Hundreds of people who were detained on the streets in Ankara, Istanbul and many other cities ahead of the NATO Summit – where decisions on armament and war preparations were taken and new roles were assigned to Türkiye – remain in custody.

Those taken from their homes and workplaces in dawn raids and sent to prisons have not been released, even though the summit has ended. Appeals against their detention are being rejected by the courts.

TEMA VOLUNTEERS IN DETENTION

The most striking of these cases involves the TEMA (The Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion) volunteers, some of whom were detained whilst returning from a countryside picnic and subsequently imprisoned. The TEMA volunteers, who were arrested on charges of ‘membership of a terrorist organisation’ before the summit began, have been in custody for 17 days. Ten volunteers – four men and six women, including Nevzat Özer, the TEMA Foundation’s Ankara Representative – are being held at Sincan Prison.

THEY WERE RETURNING FROM A PICNIC

The operation was justified by the fact that the group, which had taken part in the TEMA Foundation’s trip to the Nallıhan Bird Sanctuary in the capital on 3 June, had shown support for striking miners they encountered at a petrol station on their return journey. The bus carrying the volunteers was stopped three times along the route for identity checks, and on 23 June, the TEMA volunteers were taken into custody in a dawn raid. It has emerged that the volunteers’ home addresses were identified by visiting their neighbours following the trip.

On 25 June, the ten volunteers were remanded in custody by the magistrates’ court on charges of being members of an “armed terrorist organisation”. Of the detained TEMA volunteers, Ayten Yakut, a 75-year-old retired teacher, and Nevriye Üstüner were released on 1 July under judicial supervision, whilst Selçuk Tuğrul Körüklü, a lecturer at Ankara University who had acted as a guide on the trip, was released on 7 July under judicial supervision.

WE HAVE FILED AN APPEAL

Süleyman Çetin, one of the TEMA Foundation’s lawyers, announced that they had lodged a further appeal to have the detentions lifted following the conclusion of the NATO summit. Çetin stated, “We are awaiting the outcome of this. Because they have committed no crime. There has been either a mistake in intelligence or a judicial error. In particular, there has been an error on the part of the police. The likelihood of these people being associated with the organisations they are accused of being linked to is zero. It is non-existent,” he said.

AN APOLOGY IS REQUIRED

Recalling that the prosecution had requested their detention “on the grounds of the possibility of taking action against the NATO Summit” in its referral letter, Çetin said, “The NATO Summit is over. We demand that this injustice be rectified as a matter of urgency and that the reputation of both the TEMA volunteers and the TEMA Foundation be restored. An apology is owed to the volunteers. They will not be able to get over this trauma for a long time. Given their age, these are people who are seeing the police, a police station and the gendarmerie for the very first time. We demand that these people be released as soon as possible,” he said.

SHE SUFFERED STOMACH BLEEDING TWICE

Drawing attention to the harsh prison conditions, Çetin said, “Our volunteer, Gamzeli Sorgun Seren, suffered stomach bleeding twice whilst in prison. She has a 92-year-old father and a 12-year-old son. She is responsible for looking after her father and son. Gamzeli’s relatives are putting on a charade by calling her severely hearing-impaired father and saying, ‘I’m on holiday, I’ll be back’,” he said.

THEY ARE SLEEPING ON FLOOR MATS

Pointing out that the average age of the volunteers is over 65, Çetin said, “There are three bunk beds in the cells. Because of the risk of falling, they cannot climb onto the top bunk. They sleep on the floor. Some take turns sleeping. Given their age, some have diabetes. Some have high blood pressure. Some have heart conditions. Some have a history of cancer. There are those who need to see a doctor or undergo treatment,” he said.

Noting that the volunteers were deeply disheartened, Çetin said, “These are people who have faith in the state and have dedicated 40 or 50 years of their lives to it. They are people who love their homeland, their land and their flag. And the circumstances they find themselves in are humiliating. Due to the poor conditions and their deteriorating health, they are currently facing great hardship.”

4 FOREIGNERS DETAINED IN NATO OPERATION: JUDICIAL SUPERVISION PREVENTS DEPORTATION

It has emerged that among those detained as part of NATO operations were four foreign tourists – one from the United Kingdom and three from Germany. The tourists, who were detained on 5–6 July at the hotel where they were staying on charges of ‘membership of an armed terrorist organisation’, were released on 9 July subject to judicial supervision. However, they were unable to return to their home countries due to the travel ban imposed on them. Furthermore, as the travel ban prevents their deportation, the deportation process has not been carried out in practice, and the tourists are being held at a deportation centre.

Lawyer Süheyla Oğuz reported that the four tourists—two of whom were women—who had come to the country for a holiday stated that they had been subjected to handcuffing behind their backs and physical abuse during their detention. Oğuz noted that there were no concrete facts or evidence, stating: “Not only do my clients have no connection to any organisation, but there is not a single piece of evidence to that effect in the investigation file either. “The video referred to in the investigation report—the sole document in the file—relates to protests against the NATO Summit. However, as my clients were detained before these protests took place, it was physically impossible for them to have participated in these demonstrations,” she said.

Noting that the appeals against the judicial supervision order had been unsuccessful, Oğuz added: “The clients had pre-booked flight tickets for their return to their home country on 10 July. When they arrived at the airport, they were once again effectively deprived of their liberty on the grounds of the travel ban imposed on them. Subsequently, a deportation order was issued against them and they were transferred to a deportation centre. However, due to the travel ban still in force against them, the deportation procedure cannot, in practice, be carried out either. Consequently, my clients are unable to leave Turkey, nor have the administrative and judicial measures against them been lifted. Despite this, they continue to be held at the deportation centre and are effectively deprived of their liberty. In the current situation, there is no legal basis for their deprivation of liberty.”

NO DECISION YET ON ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR EMEL MEMİŞ’S APPEAL

Assoc. Prof. Dr Emel Memiş, from the Faculty of Political Sciences, who was among those arrested on 25 June, also lodged an appeal against her detention on 1 July. However, the appeal was rejected.

THEY TARGETED THEIR OWN CITIZENS FOR THE SAKE OF NATO

Due to the NATO Summit held in Ankara on 7–8 July, nearly 1,000 people were detained in dawn raids at their homes or during protests.

Over 200 of these individuals were arrested on baseless and unlawful charges such as “membership of an armed organisation” and “violation of the law on demonstrations and marches”.

Istanbul: nearly 170 detentions, nearly 45 arrests

Ankara: over 390 detentions, 176 in custody

Antalya: 44 people detained, 2 arrested, 4 placed under house arrest

Adana: 14 people detained, 4 placed under house arrest

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Zirve mağduru tutukluları bırakın, published in BirGün newspaper on July 12, 2026.