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More than 200 people were detained in police raids ahead of the upcoming NATO summit scheduled for July 7-8 in Ankara. Following the sweeping operations launched by the Ankara police on June 23, courts have already ordered the formal arrest of 103 individuals out of 129 referred to the judiciary.
The prosecutor’s office justified the high number of arrests by making a striking claim in its referral documents. The prosecution said that the “suspects could carry out terrorist acts in an effort to make the Republic of Turkey a country associated with terrorism.”
Official reports indicate that the coordinated operations across eight provinces targeted individuals allegedly linked to various outlawed organizations, including ISIS, TKP/ML, MLKP, and DHKP/C. During one raid on June 24, a suspected ISIS member was killed in a shootout with police.
NGO OFFICIAL, WHO MET FIRST LADY, AMONG ARRESTED
The broad scope of the detentions has sparked intense public interest, as the list of suspects includes high-profile environmentalists, academics, journalists, and elderly citizens.
Among those arrested is Nevzat Özer, the Ankara representative of the prominent environmental NGO, the TEMA Foundation. Özer was recently part of an official delegation that met with First Lady Emine Erdoğan at the Vahdettin Mansion in Istanbul to cooperate on her high-profile Zero Waste Project.
Academic Emel Memiş, LGBTI+ magazine Kaos GL’s editor-in-chief Yıldız Tar, and Contemporary Lawyers Association members Semra Demir and Kürşat Bafra were also jailed. While several elderly individuals were granted release under house arrest due to their age and fixed residences, a 70-year-old person was among those formally jailed on charges of membership in an armed terrorist organization.
INTERROGATIONS FOCUS ON EARLIER PROTESTS
During police interrogations, suspects were questioned about their political memberships, alleged ties to terrorist networks, and their participation in public demonstrations. Officers specifically asked detainees why they attended press statements and protest actions concerning the NATO summit or the recent labor demonstrations held by Doruk Mining workers, whose struggle for their unpaid wages resonated across the country.
The Presidential Center for Combating Disinformation issued a statement denying that any individuals were targeted for civil society work or environmental volunteering. The presidency maintained that the legal proceedings are based strictly on intelligence work regarding individuals evaluated to be involved in activities linked to terrorist organizations.
