Turkey detains 233 ahead of NATO summit, including LGBTQ+ activist Yildiz Tar
The operation included alleged militant suspects as well as LGBTQ+ and leftist activists, raising concerns over the scope of the crackdown.
ANKARA — Turkish authorities on Tuesday detained 233 people in raids in Ankara and Istanbul ahead of next month’s NATO summit in the Turkish capital, including a leading LGBTQ+ activist. The detentions drew criticism from opposition parties and press freedom advocates.
What we know: The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said Tuesday that the detentions came as part of investigations into several outlawed groups.
The suspects were accused of links to radical leftist and jihadi organizations, including the Islamic State and DHKP-C, a far-left militant group.
But among those detained were also leftist and LGBTQ+ activists, including Yildiz Tar — editor-in-chief of Kaos GL, one of Turkey’s leading LGBTQ+ publications — and Revolutionary Party chair Elif Torun Oneren.
Tar’s detention, as well as those of other activists, drew criticism from opposition parties and press freedom advocates, who argued that authorities were blurring the line between security operations against militant suspects and the detention of activists, lawyers, politicians and journalists.
Authorities have not detailed the specific allegations against Tar. Rights groups said Tar was among journalists, activists and lawyers detained in the raids, while prosecutors described the broader operation as targeting alleged members of outlawed groups. Tar had previously been detained in February 2025 as part of an investigation in which he was charged with “membership in an armed organization,” according to the Media and Law Studies Association.
Tar denied the charges at the time, saying his detention came as part of a crackdown aiming to silence LGBTQ+ activists as the Turkish government is increasing pressure on LGBTQ+ rights, including banning pride marches since 2015.
Reactions: The pro-Kurdish DEM Party said that protesting against NATO or criticizing the alliance’s policies were not crimes and called for the release of detainees it described as activists, including Oneren.
Meanwhile, Erol Onderoglu, the Turkey representative for Reporters Without Borders, called Tar’s detention arbitrary, saying that an international summit could not justify holding a journalist on security grounds.
“The arbitrary detention of Kaos GL's editor-in-chief Yildiz Tar in an operation carried out in Ankara before the NATO Summit is unacceptable,” he wrote on X. “The fact that it is an international summit does not justify detaining our colleague on security grounds. They must be released!”
Background: The NATO summit is scheduled for July 7-8 at the presidential complex in Ankara.
Authorities have announced heightened security measures ahead of the gathering, including restrictions around summit venues and delegation hotels, as well as a 13-day ban on public gatherings, demonstrations and related events from June 28 to July 10.
Turkey last hosted a NATO leaders’ summit in Istanbul in 2004, when large anti-NATO and anti-Bush protests were met with heavy security, including sealed-off summit zones, a no-fly zone, riot police deployments and dozens of detentions after clashes.
Turkish authorities regularly clamp down on militant groups, including the Islamic State, which has carried out several deadly attacks in Turkey.
The DHKP-C, a far-left militant group that is also considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, has previously targeted US interests in Turkey, including a 2013 suicide bombing at the US Embassy in Ankara that killed a Turkish security guard and wounded a journalist.
