Above photo: Reuters/Kemal Aslan.
Demonstrators condemned NATO’s militarism.
And held the alliance and its leaders responsible for Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Turkish authorities detained at least 100 protesters on Sunday during nationwide demonstrations organized by left-wing groups protesting NATO ahead of the alliance’s summit in Ankara, Reuters reported on 5 July.
During these protests, organized by the Communist Party of Turkiye (TKP), participants chanted, “Murderer NATO, get out of the country,” and “No passage to NATO.”
TKP Secretary-General Kemal Okuyan stated in Istanbul, “We have gathered today in many parts of Turkiye to protest against NATO.”
🚨 BREAKING: More than 100 people were detained in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, after the Communist Party of Turkey organized an anti-NATO protest march ahead of next week’s alliance summit. pic.twitter.com/1IQqqkUgPS
— Atlas Report | Real-Time World News (@AtlasReportHQ) July 5, 2026
“We said that we would not hand over Ankara to supporters of NATO, that we would not allow Ankara to remain silent. We have fulfilled that promise,” Okuyan added
Demonstrators were also chanting slogans against western imperialism while voicing solidarity with Palestine, holding NATO and its leading members accountable for the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
The incidents occurred as the capital prepares to host leaders from 32 allied nations and partner officials for a summit beginning Tuesday.
The meeting is taking place amid a historic rupture, with increased pressure from Washington on allies to increase military spending as the US seeks to pivot toward the Asia-Pacific and enforce its “NATO 3.0” doctrine of burden shifting.
To secure the meeting, officials implemented a protest ban and erected barricades across Ankara.
🚨BREAKING NEWS
The Communist Party of Türkiye (TKP) organized a protest against NATO in Ankara.🇹🇷
Slogans such as “Killer NATO, get out of our country!” were chanted. pic.twitter.com/2k5cXYobsh
— Aleksey The Great 🇷🇺🎖 (@aleksthgrt) July 5, 2026
In the city’s central Kizilay square, riot police used tear gas to break up crowds. The TKP confirmed that those detained in the capital included several party administrators.
While hundreds of activists marched from Istanbul’s Taksim Square toward Dolmabahce, no violent clashes were reported there.
However, the crackdown drew sharp criticism from opposition figures, with Tuncer Bakirhan, co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM), stating on X, “The country has been fully turned into a detention center by using the NATO summit as an excuse,” adding that “We are living through days of undeclared martial law.”
The government has not commented on the Sunday detentions, but media reported 39 other people, including academics and journalists, were also taken into custody during what are being described as “anti-terror raids” across the country.
Prosecutors previously asserted such operations aim to disrupt militant groups rather than target summit dissent, with 103 others being arrested in Ankara last month as part of similar raids.
