Turkey Arrests 209 in Massive NATO Summit Crackdown, Rights Group Says
Turkish authorities have arrested at least 209 people in Ankara ahead of next month’s NATO summit, detaining political activists, lawyers, an academic, and a prominent LGBT rights journalist in a sweeping security operation that Human Rights Watch has condemned as a misuse of anti-terror laws.
The mass arrests took place overnight on June 22-23, with police raiding homes across the capital just weeks before the July 7-8 summit, which will bring U.S. President Donald Trump and leaders from the 32-member alliance to Ankara [180342][182141]. The Ankara chief prosecutor’s office said it issued detention orders for 241 suspects, and that among those detained were 56 alleged members of the Islamic State group and 35 members of the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front, a far-left group known for armed attacks [179679]. A court ordered house arrest for 34 others, while 6 were released [183019].
Officials linked those detained to “terrorist organizations” but provided no details of specific crimes [182141]. The detentions targeted suspected organizers of planned protests, coming hours after the Ankara governor’s office banned all public assemblies, demonstrations, leafleting, and banners from June 28 to July 10 [182141][180342].
Among those referred to a criminal judgeship of peace were members of the TEMA Foundation, an environmental group; Associate Professor Emel Memiş; and journalist Yıldız Tar, editor-in-chief of KaosGL [181644]. Authorities barred contact with detainees for 24 hours before allowing lawyer visits, and it remains unclear how many will face criminal investigation or pretrial detention [182141].
Human Rights Watch criticized the crackdown, with deputy Europe and Central Asia director Benjamin Ward saying: “The misuse of terrorism laws to conduct mass arrests and silence people in the run-up to a NATO summit flies in the face of the founding values of the alliance” [182141]. He called for the immediate release of those detained and urged NATO to insist on allowing peaceful expression and assembly around the summit [182141].
Turkey is preparing strict security measures for the summit, including sealing off areas around the summit venue and hotels hosting delegations, and restricting road access to airports [179679].