Human Rights Watch Slams Turkey’s Pre-NATO Summit Arrests as ‘Ruthless’ Crackdown on Dissent
Human Rights Watch on Thursday strongly condemned Turkey’s arrest of more than 200 people in the run-up to next week’s NATO summit in Ankara, accusing the government of displaying a “ruthless intolerance” toward freedom of speech and assembly.
The wave of detentions began Tuesday after Ankara’s chief prosecutor’s office issued warrants for 241 individuals. Anti-terror police raided homes across the capital and detained 209 people in early-morning operations, according to state media. Most are suspected of links to far-left groups that Turkey has blacklisted as terrorist organizations.
Among those arrested were political activists, lawyers, an academic, and a prominent journalist who is also an LGBT rights advocate, HRW said in a statement. Prosecutors described the sweep as a preventive measure aimed at disrupting “the actions and activities of terrorist organisations” during the summit, which will bring together leaders from 32 NATO member states, including U.S. President Donald Trump.
The timing of the crackdown has drawn particular scrutiny. The arrests came just days before the July 7–8 summit, and on the eve of the raids the Ankara governor’s office banned all public demonstrations and activities for 13 days starting June 28. Large billboards were erected along roads leading to the airport to obscure poorer neighborhoods from view, an AFP journalist reported. Homes along key routes were given fresh coats of paint, according to the Turkish daily Sözcü.
Local authorities were also ordered to remove stray dogs from the streets, and a wide range of events—including exams, graduation ceremonies, festivals, concerts, and celebrations—were canceled for the summit week. Social media users voiced anger over what they saw as an excessively heavy-handed security posture, including reports that several public parks were to be closed to allow French President Emmanuel Macron to continue his habit of jogging while abroad.
The arrests have broader implications for Turkey’s relationship with its NATO allies. Critics say the government’s use of anti-terror laws to silence dissidents undermines the alliance’s founding democratic principles. “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,” said Benjamin Ward, deputy director for Europe and Central Asia at Human Rights Watch. He called for the immediate release of all detainees and urged Turkey’s NATO partners to “use their influence to urge the authorities to change course.”
Of the 241 wanted by prosecutors, 185 were identified as members of far-left groups, while another 56 were suspected of having ties to the Islamic State (IS) group. One suspect was shot dead during a confrontation with police about 100 kilometers south of Ankara, security sources told Turkish media. The environmental NGO Tema Foundation said several of its staff and volunteers had been detained after visiting a bird sanctuary, and the news site Medyascope reported that an unspecified number of birdwatchers in their 60s were also swept up in the raids.
The crackdown fits into a long pattern of government restrictions on dissent under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose administration has jailed journalists, opposition lawmakers, and activists in recent years. Analysts say the pre-summit arrests risk further straining Ankara’s ties with Western allies already uneasy about its human rights record. “Clearing the streets of Ankara of potential protesters only further exposes the Turkish government’s deepening repression,” Ward added.