A Turkish court has ordered the arrest of 103 people, including environmental volunteers, an academic, lawyers and a journalist, in sweeping security operations in Ankara ahead of next month’s NATO summit, Turkish media reported.
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office ordered simultaneous raids on Tuesday as part of what it described as an investigation into terrorism-related activity across the country.
Police and gendarmerie teams detained 225 people, according to local media reports.
After questioning at police headquarters, 135 suspects were referred to the Ankara Courthouse. Prosecutors released six of them and referred 129 to court on charges of membership in an armed terrorist organization, seeking their arrest.
The court ruled to arrest 103 suspects and imposed judicial supervision measures including house arrest on 26 others.
Among those put under house arrest were 79-year-old Kaniye Tuğba K. and 73-year-old Necla K.
The arrestees include Nevzat Özer, Ankara representative of the TEMA Foundation, one of Turkey’s best-known environmental organizations; Ankara University academic Associate Professor Emel Memiş Parmaksız; Kaos GL editor-in-chief Yıldız Tar; and lawyers Semra Demir and Kürşat Bafra.
The arrests came less than two weeks before the NATO summit, which is scheduled to take place in Ankara on July 7-8.
According to reports on the court proceedings, the suspects were accused of links to the outlawed Turkish Communist Party/Marxist-Leninist (TKP/ML).
The court cited “concrete evidence showing strong suspicion of a crime,” the severity of the charge and a possible flight risk in ordering the arrests.
However, several suspects said during questioning that they had never heard of the organization named in the investigation and denied any links to it.
Tar, the Kaos GL editor, said they had first heard the name of the organization because of the investigation.
“I am a journalist, and as part of my profession I am responsible for following and reporting on social events,” Tar said, according to Turkish media. “I never expected to face such an accusation.”
Parmaksız denied the allegation of TKP/ML membership as “completely baseless.”
“I am a scientist who works for my state and my country,” she said. “I have provided budgeting training to more than 350 public officials, including from the interior and justice ministries and the AKP’s [ruling Justice and Development Party] Women’s Branches. I absolutely reject these serious allegations.”
Özer said he had served as a volunteer for the TEMA Foundation, which works on reforestation, soil protection and environmental awareness, for many years.
“I have been volunteering for 30 years at the TEMA Foundation, one of Turkey’s most trusted civil society organizations,” he said. “This is the first time in my life that I’ve heard the name of that organization.”
The investigation also included elderly and retired people who had taken part in environmental activities under the TEMA Foundation.
Kaniye Tuğba K., 79, who was put under house arrest, said she was one of Turkey’s first female engineers and had worked on many road projects in the country.
“After retirement, because of my love of nature, I started giving environmental education to primary school children through TEMA,” she said. “The accusations are baseless.”
Necla K., 73, who was also put under house arrest, said she had retired after 33 years at the Finance Ministry.
“I joined TEMA only because I love trees and nature,” she said.
Another suspect, Semra A., 72, who was also put under house arrest, said she was receiving cancer treatment and had only attended a nature event organized by TEMA.
Opposition figures and commentators criticized the arrests, saying the operation targeted civil society, environmental volunteers, academics and journalists under the name of summit security.
Journalist Sezin Öney said on X that a 79-year-old had been put under house arrest and a 75-year-old arrested ahead of the NATO summit after joining an afforestation group visiting a bird lake near Ankara.
“If a bunch of 70+ grannies and grandpas are endangering NATO — well, the defense organization better shut itself…” she wrote.
Unbelievable. Ahead of the NATO’s July Summit at Ankara/Turkey, a 79 yrs old is condemned to house arrest and a 75 yrs old is arrested-they were among an afforestation group visiting a bird lake around the capital Ankara.
If a bunch of 70+ grannies and grandpas are endangering… https://t.co/Nam8wnnPHz
— Sezin Öney (@SezinOney) June 25, 2026
CHP lawmaker Suat Özçağdaş also criticized the arrests, saying civil society members, academics, teachers, students, journalists and environmental volunteers had been detained on the pretext of summit security.
He said the government was trying to portray nature defenders as criminals despite a lack of concrete evidence and called for their release.
“There is not a single piece of concrete evidence,” he said. “Do not deprive nature defenders and our 103 citizens of their freedom. End this persecution.”
The Ankara Governor’s Office has also imposed restrictions on public gatherings ahead of the summit, including bans on demonstrations, rallies, press statements, sit-ins, hunger strikes and vigils in the capital from June 28 to July 10.