Turkiye locks down Ankara for high-stakes NATO summit amid alliance strains
Turkiye has ring-fenced Ankara with extraordinary security for the July 7-8 NATO summit. The crackdown underlines Ankara's strategic value to the alliance while raising concerns over civil liberties.
Turkiye is putting in place extensive security arrangements for the July 7-8 NATO summit in Ankara, with tens of thousands of police deployed, air defences on high alert and public gatherings banned. The measures are aimed at protecting the summit, while also signalling Turkiye's strength and its commitment to the alliance, even as it is often seen as an outlier within NATO.
Leaders of all 32 member states are expected to attend the summit, including US President Donald Trump, whose threats to pull out of NATO and cut US troop levels have added to uncertainty over the alliance's future. The meeting is expected to focus on defence spending, the US role in NATO and efforts to project unity after Trump criticised allies for failing to support the US-led war on Iran and efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Turkiye has also opened a new VIP airport, converted from a former military airfield, to host NATO leaders.
Fatih Ceylan, a former Turkish ambassador to NATO and a security analyst at the Ankara Policy Center, said, "The important aspect of the meeting is to what extent the rift between the United States and Europe can be healed or narrowed during the summit. We should not expect miracles, but nonetheless if there is a convergence of ideas emphasizing the importance of NATO, that should be seen as a success." Turkiye's role as host appears to have helped secure Trump's attendance. "Well, except for the fact that it was being held in Turkiye by President Erdogan, I don't think I would have gone to it," Trump told reporters after meeting NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House.
In the run-up to the summit, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has described Turkiye as a reliable ally that consistently carries responsibility on NATO's southeastern flank and said the Ankara summit "will stand as a reference point in NATO's history". A NATO member since 1952, Turkiye has the alliance's second-largest army after the United States, a fast-growing defence industry and a strategic position at the crossroads of Europe, the Middle East, the Black Sea and the Caucasus. At the same time, it has often acted independently, frustrating allies by refusing to join sanctions on Russia, clashing with Greece and buying Russian missile defence systems, which led to its removal from the US-led F-35 programme in 2019. Turkiye also delayed Finland and Sweden's NATO membership until it secured concessions on counter-terrorism cooperation and the lifting of arms export restrictions, and blocked the appointments of Anders Fogh Rasmussen in 2009 and Mark Rutte in 2024 until other demands were met.
That independent approach has also allowed Turkiye to act as a mediator, including helping broker a grain shipment deal between Ukraine and Russia across the Black Sea in 2022 and backing recent initiatives aimed at ending the war in Iran. Ankara, however, has also been frustrated with NATO allies, especially over what it saw as a lack of solidarity during the failed coup attempt in 2016 and arms sales restrictions imposed after its intervention in Syria. Murat Aslan, an analyst at the Ankara-based SETA think tank, said Turkiye had learned to "play it alone" because of its difficult ties with the United States and Europe, adding that Europe is now also talking about "strategic autonomy" from the US. He said Turkiye could help NATO manage US-Europe tensions by showing how to "balance" independence with alliance commitments.
More recently, however, Turkiye has moved closer to NATO. During the Iran war, alliance missile defences intercepted four missiles fired from Iran into Turkish territory, underlining NATO's importance for Ankara. In the weeks before the summit, Italy and Germany deployed air defence systems to help Turkiye deal with heightened threats. Hamish Kinnear, principal Middle East and North Africa analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, wrote, "While Turkiye is not abandoning its balancing approach, it is tilting closer to the West, primarily because of NATO."
Security restrictions in Ankara are expected to severely disrupt daily life in the city of nearly 6 million people. Several main roads, airports, the presidential complex where the summit will be held and hotels hosting delegations will face strict access controls. Officials said the new Ankara Airport, upgraded from a former military airfield with expanded runways, is expected to remain a VIP airport after the summit and will not serve the general public. The newspaper Cumhuriyet reported that facades of houses on the route from the airport had been painted as part of a city beautification drive.
Authorities have also banned demonstrations, concerts and graduation ceremonies during the summit, while non-essential state employees have been placed on leave to reduce congestion. Security units have detained more than 200 people suspected of links to extremist groups, including the Islamic State group, authorities said, while media reports said several activists, lawyers and an academic were also caught up in the sweep. A Turkish court has blocked access to websites critical of NATO and the summit on security and public order grounds, according to Engelli Web, which tracks banned websites in Turkiye. Several journalists from Turkish opposition-leaning media organisations were denied accreditation, prompting anger from media rights groups. Namik Tan, a former Turkish ambassador and opposition lawmaker, said, "In the history of the organization, we have never witnessed security measures as stringent and suffocating in a host city for a summit as we are seeing this time in Ankara." Personal trainer Selin Karakoc said she was relieved that her wedding on July 5 would take place before the restrictions began, joking, "Ours could be one of the last weddings in Ankara that week."
As Ankara prepares to host the NATO summit, the alliance will be trying to show unity amid tensions between the United States and Europe, while Turkiye seeks to underline both its strategic importance and its growing alignment with NATO. At the same time, the scale of the security operation and restrictions in the capital has drawn criticism over their impact on daily life, expression and assembly.
With PTI Inputs
Turkiye is putting in place extensive security arrangements for the July 7-8 NATO summit in Ankara, with tens of thousands of police deployed, air defences on high alert and public gatherings banned. The measures are aimed at protecting the summit, while also signalling Turkiye's strength and its commitment to the alliance, even as it is often seen as an outlier within NATO.
Leaders of all 32 member states are expected to attend the summit, including US President Donald Trump, whose threats to pull out of NATO and cut US troop levels have added to uncertainty over the alliance's future. The meeting is expected to focus on defence spending, the US role in NATO and efforts to project unity after Trump criticised allies for failing to support the US-led war on Iran and efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Turkiye has also opened a new VIP airport, converted from a former military airfield, to host NATO leaders.
Fatih Ceylan, a former Turkish ambassador to NATO and a security analyst at the Ankara Policy Center, said, "The important aspect of the meeting is to what extent the rift between the United States and Europe can be healed or narrowed during the summit. We should not expect miracles, but nonetheless if there is a convergence of ideas emphasizing the importance of NATO, that should be seen as a success." Turkiye's role as host appears to have helped secure Trump's attendance. "Well, except for the fact that it was being held in Turkiye by President Erdogan, I don't think I would have gone to it," Trump told reporters after meeting NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House.
In the run-up to the summit, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has described Turkiye as a reliable ally that consistently carries responsibility on NATO's southeastern flank and said the Ankara summit "will stand as a reference point in NATO's history". A NATO member since 1952, Turkiye has the alliance's second-largest army after the United States, a fast-growing defence industry and a strategic position at the crossroads of Europe, the Middle East, the Black Sea and the Caucasus. At the same time, it has often acted independently, frustrating allies by refusing to join sanctions on Russia, clashing with Greece and buying Russian missile defence systems, which led to its removal from the US-led F-35 programme in 2019. Turkiye also delayed Finland and Sweden's NATO membership until it secured concessions on counter-terrorism cooperation and the lifting of arms export restrictions, and blocked the appointments of Anders Fogh Rasmussen in 2009 and Mark Rutte in 2024 until other demands were met.
That independent approach has also allowed Turkiye to act as a mediator, including helping broker a grain shipment deal between Ukraine and Russia across the Black Sea in 2022 and backing recent initiatives aimed at ending the war in Iran. Ankara, however, has also been frustrated with NATO allies, especially over what it saw as a lack of solidarity during the failed coup attempt in 2016 and arms sales restrictions imposed after its intervention in Syria. Murat Aslan, an analyst at the Ankara-based SETA think tank, said Turkiye had learned to "play it alone" because of its difficult ties with the United States and Europe, adding that Europe is now also talking about "strategic autonomy" from the US. He said Turkiye could help NATO manage US-Europe tensions by showing how to "balance" independence with alliance commitments.
More recently, however, Turkiye has moved closer to NATO. During the Iran war, alliance missile defences intercepted four missiles fired from Iran into Turkish territory, underlining NATO's importance for Ankara. In the weeks before the summit, Italy and Germany deployed air defence systems to help Turkiye deal with heightened threats. Hamish Kinnear, principal Middle East and North Africa analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, wrote, "While Turkiye is not abandoning its balancing approach, it is tilting closer to the West, primarily because of NATO."
Security restrictions in Ankara are expected to severely disrupt daily life in the city of nearly 6 million people. Several main roads, airports, the presidential complex where the summit will be held and hotels hosting delegations will face strict access controls. Officials said the new Ankara Airport, upgraded from a former military airfield with expanded runways, is expected to remain a VIP airport after the summit and will not serve the general public. The newspaper Cumhuriyet reported that facades of houses on the route from the airport had been painted as part of a city beautification drive.
Authorities have also banned demonstrations, concerts and graduation ceremonies during the summit, while non-essential state employees have been placed on leave to reduce congestion. Security units have detained more than 200 people suspected of links to extremist groups, including the Islamic State group, authorities said, while media reports said several activists, lawyers and an academic were also caught up in the sweep. A Turkish court has blocked access to websites critical of NATO and the summit on security and public order grounds, according to Engelli Web, which tracks banned websites in Turkiye. Several journalists from Turkish opposition-leaning media organisations were denied accreditation, prompting anger from media rights groups. Namik Tan, a former Turkish ambassador and opposition lawmaker, said, "In the history of the organization, we have never witnessed security measures as stringent and suffocating in a host city for a summit as we are seeing this time in Ankara." Personal trainer Selin Karakoc said she was relieved that her wedding on July 5 would take place before the restrictions began, joking, "Ours could be one of the last weddings in Ankara that week."
As Ankara prepares to host the NATO summit, the alliance will be trying to show unity amid tensions between the United States and Europe, while Turkiye seeks to underline both its strategic importance and its growing alignment with NATO. At the same time, the scale of the security operation and restrictions in the capital has drawn criticism over their impact on daily life, expression and assembly.
With PTI Inputs
