A Turkish court has ordered the pretrial detention of 178 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 figure updates an earlier count of 103 people jailed pending trial after more suspects were brought before a court.
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office ordered 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 after prosecutors issued warrants for 241 suspects, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.
Of those detained, 212 were referred to a criminal court of peace on charges of membership in a terrorist organization, while six were released by prosecutors.
The court ordered the arrest of 178 suspects and released 34 others under judicial supervision, Anadolu reported.
The arrests came less than two weeks before the NATO summit, which is scheduled to take place in Ankara on July 7 and 8 and is expected to bring leaders of all 32 NATO member states to the Turkish capital, including US President Donald Trump.
Among those put in pretrial detention in the first group were 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 Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), a rights group that provides legal support to journalists and monitors freedom of expression cases in Turkey, said the detainees included journalists, academics, lawyers, trade union members, teachers, students and civil society representatives.
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.”
MLSA said Tar was questioned not about the NATO summit but about a social media post promoting an event critical of the Turkish government’s “Year of the Family” campaign.
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 [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 in the first group, 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 providing 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, confined to 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 wrote 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 down,” she wrote.
Main opposition Republican People’s Party (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 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.”
Human Rights Watch said the arrests, protest bans and restrictions imposed ahead of the summit showed Turkey’s “ruthless intolerance of freedom of speech and assembly.”
The Ankara Governor’s Office has 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.
Agence France Presse contributed to this report.