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Turkey detains dozens of opposition activists ahead of NATO summit
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Chile /Elections & Politics

Turkey detains dozens of opposition activists ahead of NATO summit

From Cooperativa · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Turkish police arrested dozens of opposition activists critical of NATO ahead of the alliance's summit in Ankara.
  • The arrests occurred in pre-dawn raids across several provinces, targeting members of left-wing parties and organizations opposing Turkey's NATO membership.
  • Rights groups condemned the detentions as politically motivated attempts to present a favorable image of Turkey to NATO leaders.

Turkish police detained dozens of opposition activists and left-wing party members on Sunday as part of strict security measures ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara. The arrests took place in pre-dawn raids across multiple provinces, targeting individuals and groups critical of Turkey's NATO membership and the upcoming summit.

The detained activists belong to various organizations that oppose NATO, under the slogan "No to coordination with NATO." They had called for protests against the summit, scheduled for July 7-8. Reports indicate that in Kocaeli province, three individuals, including a local leader of the Labor Party (EMEP) and a member of its youth organization, were arrested after police forcibly entered their homes.

The raids extended to key provinces like Kocaeli, Antalya, and Izmir. In Antalya, militants from the Workers' Party of Turkey (TฤฐP) and the Workers' Youth, along with two union leaders, were reportedly detained. The Socialist Struggle Initiative announced the arrest of five members in Izmir, accused of "carrying out activities against NATO."

We demand that these political operations aimed at offering NATO an idyllic panorama cease.

โ€” Association of Contemporary Lawyers (ร‡HD)The Association of Contemporary Lawyers (ร‡HD) denounced the widespread detentions as politically motivated.

The Association of Contemporary Lawyers (ร‡HD) denounced the widespread detentions as "political operations" aimed at creating an "idyllic panorama" for NATO. The organization reported that its Istanbul branch president, lawyer Ezgi ร–nalan, was arrested at her home, along with many of her clients. "We demand that these political operations aimed at offering NATO an idyllic panorama cease," the ร‡HD stated.

In recent days, Turkish courts have placed 178 out of over 220 detained individuals in pre-trial detention. This preventive measure is intended to ensure the security of the summit, which will be attended by heads of state and government from 32 member countries. Main opposition leader ร–zgรผr ร–zel called the detentions a "disgrace," stating that authorities are making life difficult for their own citizens simply because foreign leaders are visiting.

These are preventive detentions, it's preventive jail. Everyone is being made to suffer.

โ€” ร–zgรผr ร–zelMain opposition leader ร–zgรผr ร–zel called the detentions a "disgrace."
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Cooperativa in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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