Journalists arrested in Turkey as Nato summit looms

ISTANBUL, Turkey — Two journalists were arrested in Turkey on Sunday, their media outlets said, the latest in a wave of detentions ahead of a Nato summit in Ankara next week due to be attended by leaders including US President Donald Trump.

Major roads through the Turkish capital were closed and police stationed in side streets as authorities began throwing a security blanket over the city in anticipation of the July 7-8 summit.

Trump is on good terms with Turkey’s veteran President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Nato members are hoping to court him in Ankara as concerns linger about Washington’s commitment to the alliance, underscored by fears Russia could launch new attacks in Europe in coming years.

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But human rights groups have complained of a shrinking space for dissent in Turkey in recent weeks.

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On Sunday, Buse Sogutlu, international news editor at online newspaper T24, and Ceren Erdogdu, journalist at OdaTV, were both detained for unspecified reasons, their media outlets said.

Sogutlu’s lawer Erman Ozturk told AFP “we believe it is linked to the Nato summit.”

Erol Onderoglu, the Turkey representative for Reporters Without Borders (RSF), condemned “indiscriminate, arbitrary, and chaotic operations launched ahead of the Nato summit (that) clearly threaten the reputation and safety of journalists.”

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Daily newspaper Cumhuriyet reported that “dozens of people were arrested” on Sunday, without giving a reason.

Ezgi Onalan, head of the Istanbul branch of the Association of Contemporary Lawyers (CHD), was also detained, the rights group — a frequent target of authorities — announced on X.

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Last month, Human Rights Watch denounced Turkey’s arrest of some 200 people ahead of the summit, saying it showed a “ruthless intolerance” of freedom of speech and assembly.

HRW said the detainees included political activists, lawyers, an academic, and a journalist who is a prominent LGBT rights activist, with prosecutors saying the aim was to thwart “the actions and activities of terrorist organizations.”

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Ankara has also banned all demonstrations until after the summit, and 19 protesters from the Communist Party of Turkey (HKP) were arrested in the city on Sunday, the party announced.

The leader of Turkey’s main opposition party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, condemned the crackdown on X.

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“It is not the existence of protests that damages a country’s reputation, but rather the suppression of the right to demonstrate democratically,” he wrote, addressing Erdogan directly.