Ahead of the NATO Summit in Ankara on 7–8 July, the Turkish government has intensified security measures, carrying out police raids on civil society activists while refurbishing parts of the city in preparation for the event. In response, women’s organisations have organised protests and issued statements condemning the government’s war policies, the billions spent on the summit, and the arrests, bans, and crackdown on dissent preceding the meeting.
Ahead of the NATO Summit scheduled to take place in Ankara on 7–8 July, women’s organisations have stepped up their criticism of both the alliance and the Turkish government’s handling of the event. Through press conferences and public demonstrations, they have condemned increased security measures, including arrests, house raids and restrictions on public gatherings, arguing that these measures have targeted civil society and sought to suppress dissent before the summit.
Ankara Women’s Platform: “We Defend Equality Against Exploitation, Life Against War”
The Ankara Women’s Platform held a press conference under the slogan “No to NATO.” Reading the group’s statement, Buse Üçer argued: “As women, we know that war does not exist only on the battlefield. War reproduces itself through domination over women’s bodies, male violence, exploitation, poverty, the destruction of nature, and the denial of the will of peoples. The security model represented by NATO does not protect the freedom of peoples, but rather reinforces a system that safeguards the interests of governments and global capital.”
Üçer also condemned the arrests, house raids and public assembly bans introduced ahead of the summit: “These practices reflect a patriarchal state mentality aimed at silencing those who oppose war policies, democratic opposition, and the women’s freedom movement. It is no coincidence that our fellow activists Nursen Güvendir, Şevin Özden, Elif Torun Öneren and Emel Memiş have been targeted in these operations. Doors were forced open, windows were smashed, and women were detained under conditions of intimidation and violence. These attacks are directed not only at a handful of women but at the collective will of organised women and LGBTQ+ people who have struggled for years against male violence, war, poverty and inequality.”
The statement also criticised the allocation of public resources, arguing that budgetary decisions are fundamentally political. Üçer noted that 10 billion Turkish lira had been spent on preparations for the NATO Summit.
“This money has been taken directly from women and children. We reject a system that condemns women to poverty, illness and violence while spending billions on war.”
The statement further claimed:
“Those arriving in our country under the banner of the NATO Summit include politicians whose names have appeared in the Epstein files and war criminals responsible for the deaths of thousands.”
The platform concluded by calling on women’s and LGBTQ+ organisations across Turkey to strengthen solidarity and resistance: “We see the growing pressure on women and LGBTQ+ people in Ankara—the arrests, house raids and de facto bans—not simply as local violations of the law but as a systematic political operation targeting the women’s freedom movement. We therefore call on all women’s organisations to strengthen organised feminist resistance in the streets, in public squares and in every sphere of life. If the lives, freedoms and organised strength of women and LGBTQ+ people are under attack, our answer will be collective solidarity and resistance. We defend equality against exploitation and life against war.”
“Don’t Be Afraid, This Plane Is Made of Paper”
On 29 June, the Ankara Women’s Platform staged a symbolic protest against the NATO Summit by flying paper aeroplanes along Konur Street. The paper planes carried the slogan:
“Don’t be afraid, this plane is made of paper.”
Inside each paper aeroplane was the following message:
Don’t be afraid, this plane is made of paper! But NATO’s war policies rain bombs on people. Women and LGBTQ+ people say no to NATO!
Women Against NATO: “Where NATO Exists, Peace Cannot Flourish; Where Imperialism Exists, Freedom Cannot Grow”
Under the banner “Women Against Imperialism and NATO,” another coalition of women’s organisations held a press statement in Khalkedon Square, Kadıköy, on 26 June.
The group criticised both the NATO Summit and the arrests carried out beforehand while drawing attention to the devastation caused by wars in Gaza, Iran and across the Middle East.
The statement declared: “The perpetrators of these massacres are not ordinary people. Imperialist powers, centres of capital and their political collaborators, seeking to divide the world for their own interests, sacrifice millions of lives in pursuit of profit. We reject the death and destruction imposed upon peoples by war. NATO is one of the bloodiest partners of these war policies. Hiding behind false claims of ‘security’ and ‘defence’, NATO is sustained by imperialism and capital, serving as their guardian.”
The coalition also highlighted the disproportionate impact of war on women: “Imperialists and war profiteers place the greatest burden on women’s bodies. In Palestine, Sudan, Ukraine, Afghanistan and many other parts of the world, women are left to face the devastation caused by war. They endure rape, forced displacement, human trafficking and many other direct consequences of armed conflict.”
The statement further criticised government spending priorities: “While we struggle with poverty and our social rights are steadily dismantled, military budgets continue to expand. The billions poured into weapons and bombs are resources stolen from women’s right to live equally and freely, and from the future of working people. As poverty deepens, women’s labour is exploited more brutally, and mechanisms controlling our bodies and rights become more severe. Hate attacks against LGBTQ+ people and the erosion of our hard-won rights are direct consequences of these militaristic family and population policies.”
Government Preparations for the Summit
Following the Ankara Governor’s decision to ban all demonstrations and public events across the city for 13 days before the NATO Summit, police conducted coordinated house raids on 23 June, targeting members of various civil society organisations.
Of the 225 people detained, 178 were remanded in custody, while 34 were released under judicial supervision.
Those arrested reportedly included: Nevzat Özer, Ankara representative of the TEMA Foundation; Hediye Yıldırım, member of the executive board of Halkevleri; Burcu Arıkan, spokesperson for Umut-SEN; Yıldız Tar, Editor-in-Chief of Kaos GL; lawyers Semra Demir and Kürşat Bafra from the Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD); and Associate Professor Emel Memiş.
According to journalist Barış Terkoğlu, many of those detained were female TEMA volunteers who had participated in a trip organised by the foundation to the Nallıhan Bird Sanctuary.
According to a 21 June report by T24, visible public expenditure related to the NATO Summit reached 11.58 billion Turkish lira. Preparations included the renovation of the airport, resurfacing roads, constructing vertical gardens, refurbishing building façades, and transporting trees and saplings from several provinces—including Konya, Elazığ, Manisa, Samsun and Amasya—to line the official protocol route. Trees costing 225,000 TL were planted at an additional cost of 801,325 TL.
Roads that had remained neglected for years were resurfaced, and buildings received cosmetic renovations shortly before the summit. These expenditures attracted public criticism, with many arguing that investments withheld from local communities for years had suddenly become available to prepare the city for NATO leaders, rather than being directed towards addressing poverty, insecurity and public needs. The debate once again highlighted how decisions over public spending remain a deeply political question.