Turkish journalists were barred from the NATO summit in Ankara – Reuters
NATO has rejected accreditation requests from dozens of journalists from Turkey, which will host the Alliance’s summit in Ankara on July 7–8, with 32 leaders of member countries and representatives of partner nations in attendance.
The rejections were issued to reporters from independent media outlets, including Cumhuriyet, Sozcu, Anka, T24, and Medyascope, as well as the pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak. The Turkish Journalists’ Association expressed deep concern and accused NATO of violating the principles of press freedom, democracy, and the rule of law.
Alliance spokesperson Allison Hart explained that the organization relies on the host country’s internal assessment of journalists when it comes to accreditation. According to her, NATO representatives are already in constant contact with Turkish authorities to resolve this issue, as the physical presence of the media at events is extremely important. Turkey’s official Communications Directorate has not yet commented on the reasons for the mass denials of accreditation to its own reporters.
At the NATO summit in Ankara, the allies plan to announce new defense commitments, which will include multibillion-dollar contracts for weapons production and continued support for Ukraine.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called on European allies to demonstrate unwavering unity and send a strong signal of support for Ukraine at the upcoming NATO summit, which will take place on July 7–8 in Ankara, Turkey.
