In the weeks leading up to the NATO summit opening Tuesday in Ankara, Turkish authorities have carried out a sweeping crackdown on dissent — arresting more than 200 people in dawn raids, jailing a comedian and two journalists, banning demonstrations across the capital, and turning away a cruise ship carrying LGBTQ+ passengers on the grounds that those aboard held values incompatible with Turkish society.
Human Rights Watch described the measures as evidence of Turkey’s ruthless intolerance of freedom of speech and assembly, and said the summit was taking place against a backdrop of intensifying violations of basic rights — including far-reaching restrictions on the main opposition party, the press, and freedom of expression more broadly.
A comedian arrested, journalists detained, lawyers held
Among the most prominent individual cases is that of standup comedian Deniz Göktaş, who was arrested and placed in pre-trial detention last week after landing at Istanbul airport returning from holiday. Göktaş faces charges of insulting the president and denigrating religious values in connection with a live performance in Istanbul on 1 June, in which he referred to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as a dictator and made jokes about suicide bombers. A recording of the show posted to YouTube on 24 June has been viewed nearly nine million times.
In testimony to prosecutors, Göktaş argued that the word dictator is a political term commonly used in public discourse and that he had no intention of insulting anyone.
On Sunday, two journalists were arrested: Buse Söğütlü, international news editor at online newspaper T24, and Ceren Erdoğdu of OdaTV. A lawyer for Söğütlü told Agence France-Presse the timing suggested a connection to the NATO summit. Ezgi Onalan, head of the Istanbul branch of the Association of Contemporary Lawyers, was also detained.
The late June raids, conducted at dawn across Ankara, were described by the prosecutor’s office as an effort to uncover the activities of terrorist organisations. Authorities accused those detained of links to socialist and Marxist groups as well as Islamic State. Human Rights Watch said no evidence of any crimes had been provided. Those held included a journalist and LGBTQ+ activist, two lawyers, an academic, and 14 members of an environmental group focused on reforestation.
LGBTQ+ cruise ship turned away
Authorities in the coastal town of Aydın blocked a cruise ship operated by Atlantis — a company specialising in gay-friendly travel — from docking, citing the fact that passengers were known for behaviours that did not align with the structure of Turkish society and its moral values.
US actor and singer Patti LuPone, who had been scheduled to perform on board, confirmed the ban in a social media post, writing that the ship had been prevented from entering Turkey simply because of who was on board.
A broader pattern of suppression
The pre-summit crackdown is part of a pattern that has been building for years. Reporters Without Borders this year accused Turkey of using all possible means to undermine critics, placing the country 163rd out of 180 nations on its annual press freedom index — one of the lowest rankings among NATO member states.
Over the past year, Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party has faced sustained institutional pressure. Istanbul’s mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu — the CHP’s chosen presidential candidate — is currently on trial on corruption charges the party describes as politically motivated. He was removed from a courtroom last week after clashing with the presiding judge. In May, a court removed the CHP’s party leader in a move critics said was designed to weaken the opposition’s capacity to mount a credible challenge to Erdoğan.
Western governments stay quiet
Despite the scale and visibility of the crackdown, Western leaders attending the summit have largely avoided raising Turkey’s human rights record in public, prioritising security cooperation with a strategically significant NATO ally and major arms exporter.
Some analysts argue that silence emboldens rather than moderates Erdoğan’s government. David Satterfield, a former US ambassador to Ankara and now director of the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, told Reuters last week that continued Western commentary on the erosion of democratic institutions in Turkey remains important.
“The course is not irrevocably set,” Satterfield said. “Turkey is not beyond the pale. It’s important that Turks hear others talking about their system in this way.”
Whether NATO’s gathering in Ankara this week prompts any such conversation — publicly or privately — may say as much about the alliance’s values as it does about Turkey’s direction.
