Via Middle East Eye

Rights groups have condemned a protest ban imposed by Turkey ahead of a Nato summit, as well as the arrest of hundreds of people in a sweeping crackdown.

Last week, the Ankara Governorate announced a 13-day province-wide ban on all public assemblies from Sunday, citing "national security" and security measures around the conference.

A total of 225 people were also arrested, including alleged supporters of the leftist Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) and the Islamic State group.

Other detainees included academic Emel Memis, gay rights activist and journalist Yildiz Tar, environmental NGO Tema Foundation representative Nevzat Ozer, independent labour union Umut-Sen spokesperson Burcu Arikan, and Progressive Lawyers Association lawyers Semra Demir and Kursat Bafra.

The state-run Anadolu news agency said that 178 suspects taken into custody were formally arrested, while 34 others were released under judicial supervision.

In a statement, Amnesty International condemned the ban and the arrests as an "unjustifiable attack on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression".

"All the excessively broad and disproportionate restrictions that prevent the exercise of the right to peaceful assembly must be lifted," said Esther Major, Amnesty International’s deputy director of research for Europe.

“In addition, Nato’s decision to deny accreditation to some journalists and media outlets from Turkey is a blow to media freedom. We call on Nato to reverse its stance and enable those who have been excluded to cover the event.”

Journalists denied access

The Nato summit is scheduled to take place on 7-8 July and is expected to be attended by leaders from all 32 member states. US President Donald Trump is among those expected to attend.

Turkey has been a member of Nato since 1952 and has the second-largest land army in the alliance.

Leftists and some Islamist groups have long criticized Turkey's membership, saying it has kept the country under US dominance and suppressed socialist and anti-imperialist movements in Turkey. US support for Israel's genocide in Gaza, as well as its attacks on Iran, has further provoked anger towards the summit in Turkey.

Dozens of journalists have been denied accreditation for the summit, including those from respected independent outlets such as Cumhuriyet, Sozcu, Anka, T24 and Medyascope.

On Friday, a range of media freedom bodies issued a joint statement condemning Nato's decision to deny the journalist's access.

"Given Nato’s own accreditation criteria, which lists editorial independence as a core eligibility requirement, rejection of outlets defined by that very quality is difficult to reconcile," the statement said.

"Should a governmental institution with a documented track record of restricting press access have played any role in this process, Nato risks allowing domestic media pressures to influence what should be an independent credentialing framework." Middle East Eye contacted Nato for comment, but had received no response at the time of publication.