Thousands of people took to the streets in Istanbul to protest the NATO summit
A large-scale protest took place in central Istanbul against the NATO summit, which is being held in Ankara today. Thousands of people joined the demonstration to voice their opposition to the Alliance and U.S. policy.
Among the participants were representatives of left-wing political movements, pro-Palestinian organizations, and Kurdish groups. During the march, they chanted anti-American slogans and called for opposition to the NATO summit in Turkey. The procession of protesters marched through the central streets of Istanbul. Demonstrators carried flags and posters and shouted slogans.
One of the most prominent slogans was: “Murderers, USA, get out of our country.” The organizers of the rally say they oppose NATO’s policies and consider holding the summit in Turkey to be the wrong decision. One of the protesters, 21-year-old Ali Gültekin, explained why people took to the streets. “We are here to protest the holding in Ankara—at a cost of millions of dollars—of the NATO summit, an organization we consider a machine for mass murder, created to maintain global hegemony,” he said.
İstanbul Emek Barış ve Demokrasi Güçleri is organizing
a march from the Atatürk Cultural Center in Taksim to Dolmabahçe to protest the 36th NATO Summit in Ankara @evrenselgzt pic.twitter.com/rkyEMMjcTt— İlke TV (@ilketvcomtr) July 7, 2026
According to the AP, representatives of several civil society and political movements joined the demonstration. Among them were left-wing activists, pro-Palestinian organizations, and Kurdish groups. During the protest, demonstrators marched through the city center without any reports of serious incidents.
The NATO summit is taking place in Ankara today. Leaders of NATO member states and representatives of partner countries have arrived in the Turkish capital to discuss security, defense, and continued support for Ukraine. Against the backdrop of this meeting, the protest in Istanbul became one of the largest public demonstrations related to the summit in Turkey, according to the Associated Press.
