Anti-NATO protest held in Istanbul ahead of Ankara summit

A group of students from Istanbul University gathered in Beyazıt Square to protest the upcoming NATO summit scheduled for July in Ankara. The demonstrators voiced strong opposition to the alliance, labeling it an "imperialist war organization."

In a press statement, the students asserted that NATO brings occupation, destruction, and exploitation wherever it goes, leading peoples to hunger, poverty, and war. They criticized the ruling AKP government for mobilizing resources to facilitate the gathering of those they described as "killers" in luxury hotels. The protesters also condemned recent operations against university students in various provinces, viewing them as attempts to suppress anti-imperialist sentiment ahead of the summit.

The demonstrators argued that opposing NATO is not a crime, but rather surrendering the country to imperialist interests is. They specifically cited the establishment of military bases and the privatization of public resources to imperialist monopolies as criminal acts. The students declared, "NATO get out, this country is ours."

They further criticized the cyclical nature of dependency under changing governments, where policies of oppression, exploitation, and war are maintained under the guise of "national interest," "security," or "stability." The protesters stated that NATO has been marketed as a "national security" necessity by domestic collaborators for decades, but has historically been linked to clandestine operations, death squads, and coups, acting as a force behind massacres and unsolved killings. They concluded by invoking the legacy of past resistance movements against foreign influence, vowing to continue their struggle for independence against NATO, U.S. imperialism, and their local allies.

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Emperyalizmin savaş örgütü NATO, 7-8 Temmuz’da 22 yıl sonra yeniden Türkiye'de zirve gerçekleştirmeye hazırlanıyor. Balkanlar'dan Afganistan'a, Irak'tan Libya'ya girdiği her yere işgal, yıkım ve sömürü taşıyan; halkları açlığa, yoksulluğa ve savaşa mahkûm eden NATO, Ankara'da yeni paylaşım planlarını yapmak üzere toplanıyor.