Turkey detains 209 in raids in the capital ahead of July's NATO summit

Audio By Carbonatix

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Security forces in the Turkish capital carried out sweeping raids on Tuesday ahead of next month’s NATO summit, and detained more than 200 people with suspected links to extremist groups, including the Islamic State group, officials said.

Some media outlets, however, reported that some of those detained were politicians or activists, leading to allegations of arbitrary detentions.

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to join other leaders of the 32‑member alliance in Ankara for the July 7–8 summit.

Turkey is planning strict security measures for the summit, including banning demonstrations and restricting access to roads leading to airports, as well as sealing off areas around the summit venue and hotels hosting delegations.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government has prioritized security and authorities regularly carry out security raids. Last month, security forces detained 324 people suspected of links to the Islamic State group in a nationwide sweep.

Early on Tuesday, Turkish prosecutors issued detention orders for 241 suspects, and 209 of them were subsequently taken into custody in police and gendarmerie raids around Ankara, according to a statement from the chief prosecutor’s office. The raids were still underway later Tuesday to take in the rest of the suspects.

Among those detained were 56 alleged Islamic State militants and 35 members of the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front, a far‑left group known for armed attacks and assassinations in Turkey, the statement said.

Birgun, an independent left-leaning newspaper, and other media reported that a politician, an LGBTQ activist and at least three lawyers allegedly close to left-wing groups were also among the detained. That lead to concerns that the government could be using security as a pretext to silence critics and prevent possible anti-NATO demonstrations during the summit.

“This arbitrary wave of detentions and arrests targeting leftist and socialist institutions once again reveals the state the country has reached,” the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party, DEM, said. “Turning Ankara into a giant prison with bans imposed for the NATO Summit is unacceptable.”

The Islamic State group has also carried out numerous deadly attacks in Turkey, including the 2017 New Year’s shooting at an Istanbul nightclub that killed 39 people.