ANKARA, Turkey — A number of independent Turkish news organizations have been shut out of coverage for the upcoming NATO summit in Ankara, with journalism groups condemning the move as a direct attack on press freedom.
U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to attend the July 7-8 gathering of leaders from the alliance’s 32 member nations in the Turkish capital. Key topics on the agenda include defense spending and demonstrating alliance unity.
Among the outlets whose journalists were denied credentials are Halk TV, Sozcu TV, Cumhuriyet newspaper, T24 news website, and ANKA news agency — all considered either independent or opposition-leaning. The Turkish Journalists’ Association and other media solidarity organizations confirmed the exclusions.
According to the association, the rejected journalists received no explanation for the denial and were not given any avenue to challenge the decision.
“Preventing certain media outlets from covering events of public importance undermines freedom of information and reporting,” the association stated. “International organizations must act in line with the democratic values they claim to uphold.”
NATO spokeswoman Allison Hart addressed the situation in a post on X, explaining that for summits held outside NATO’s Brussels headquarters, the alliance depends on the host country to vet and approve journalists from that nation.
“We are in contact with Turkish authorities on accreditation for the NATO Summit in Ankara. It is very important for NATO that media can attend major events in person,” Hart said.
Turkish government officials have not made any public comment regarding the accreditation denials.
Turkey has been rolling out extensive security measures ahead of the summit. Earlier this week, security forces arrested more than 200 individuals suspected of ties to extremist organizations, according to the Ankara chief prosecutor’s office.
However, opposition parties and media reports indicated that those swept up in the arrests included a politician, an academic, a journalist, a prominent LGBTQ activist, and lawyers — prompting calls for their release.
Human Rights Watch also weighed in Thursday, criticizing the arrests and urging NATO to make sure basic democratic rights are upheld throughout the summit.
“The misuse of terrorism laws to conduct mass arrests and silence people in the run-up to a NATO summit flies in the face of the founding values of the alliance,” said Benjamin Ward, the group’s deputy director for Europe and Central Asia. “The authorities should immediately release those detained, and NATO should insist that peaceful expression and assembly must be permitted around the summit.”
The Turkish government’s Communications Directorate pushed back Thursday, asserting that those who were detained “were assessed to have been involved in activities connected to various terrorist organizations.”
