French President Emmanuel Macron took a morning run Wednesday in an Ankara public park that was temporarily closed to residents and journalists, attracting criticism over restrictions imposed during a NATO summit in the Turkish capital.
Macron, in Ankara for the July 7 and 8 NATO leaders summit, jogged in Seğmenler Park in the Çankaya district under security measures before attending the summit’s main session.
🇫🇷Macron went for his usual morning jog in Ankara’s Seğmenler Park while in Turkey for the NATO summit. pic.twitter.com/PNDCOuYefL
— The Saviour (@TheSaviour) July 8, 2026
Turkish media reported that citizens were barred from entering the park during the run and that journalists were not allowed inside.
Macron completed the run, which lasted about an hour, and returned to his hotel before starting his official program.
The episode revived criticism that daily life in Ankara had been disrupted for visiting leaders during the summit, which brought heads of state and government from NATO’s 32 member countries to the Turkish capital.
Opposition figures had criticized reports before the summit that parks could be closed for Macron’s exercise routine.
Mahmut Tanal, a lawmaker from the main opposition Republican People’s Party, had questioned why parks in Ankara had to be closed if Macron could run among the public in France and during visits abroad.
The Turkish government’s Directorate of Communications on June 25 denied claims that Ankara’s Dikmen Valley and Botanik Park would be closed for Macron, calling the reports baseless and saying there was no decision or precedent to close those parks for his walk.
Wednesday’s reports concerned Seğmenler Park, not the two parks named in the government denial, but the closure fueled criticism that public spaces were being restricted for summit optics and the comfort of foreign leaders.
The Ankara Governor’s Office had banned demonstrations, sit-ins, rallies and other public gatherings from June 28 to July 10 as part of summit security measures.
Authorities also closed roads, set up security barriers and increased police deployment across the capital.
Rights groups and opposition parties have criticized the measures, saying summit security was being used to curtail freedoms.
Amnesty International called the protest ban an “excessive and unjustifiable attack” on the rights to peaceful assembly and expression.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, asked Monday about Turkey’s pre-summit crackdown, said democracy meant more than elections and also included the right to demonstrate and a free press.
The summit is taking place at the Beştepe presidential complex in Ankara and focuses on defense spending, support for Ukraine and NATO’s defense industry.
Turkey is hosting a NATO summit for the first time since the 2004 meeting in İstanbul.