By Bosphorus News Türkiye Desk
Ankara has entered a full summit-security regime before NATO leaders meet in the Turkish capital on July 7-8, after authorities checked more than 1.5 million people and nearly 930,000 vehicles in a nearly three-month operation across the city.
Ankara police said more than 4,000 wanted persons were apprehended during checks carried out from April 4 to July 1. The figure refers to people already sought under outstanding warrants, rather than new detainees produced by a single summit operation.
Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi said 56,288 personnel will be deployed for the summit, including 48,841 police officers and 7,447 gendarmerie personnel. He said 4,405 teams or units would be involved in the security plan, with road-control points in Ankara and coordination with neighboring provinces.
The measures place the capital under one of the largest security and mobility operations it has seen for an international summit. The 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit will be held at the Presidential Complex in Beştepe, with leaders from all 32 NATO members expected in Ankara.
Earlier Bosphorus News coverage had already detailed Ankara's summit security posture, expanded personnel deployments and separate media accreditation rules for organizations covering the July 7-8 meeting.
Ankara Governorate has imposed a wide set of traffic and movement restrictions around the summit calendar. From July 5 at 16.00 until July 10 at 10.00, fuel tankers, concrete mixers, tow trucks, heavy vehicles and tractors will be barred from entering the city. Scooter use and motorcycle couriers will be restricted on designated routes between July 6 and July 9.
Road closures around the Presidential Complex will run from 07.00 on July 7 until 23.59 on July 8. Additional restrictions will apply around hotels hosting foreign delegations, summit access roads and selected central routes. Parking bans and alternative road plans have also been announced by the governorate.
The mobility restrictions follow earlier preparations at Ankara's transport nodes, including the reopening of Ankara airport facilities before the summit week.
The traffic measures also build on a broader public-order ban announced before the summit. Ankara Governorate prohibited public gatherings, marches, press statements, hunger strikes, sit-ins, protest actions, rallies, stands, tents, leaflet distribution, banners and similar activities from June 28 until July 10. Drone flights were also banned during the same period.
The restrictions have drawn criticism from opposition figures. DEM Party co-chair Tuncer Bakırhan described Ankara as being turned into an "open-air prison," while CHP leader Özgür Özel also criticized the scale of the security measures and pre-summit detentions. The government says the measures are designed to secure one of the world's highest-level diplomatic meetings with minimum disruption to daily life.
The summit will be the second NATO leaders' gathering hosted by Türkiye, after the 2004 Istanbul summit. NATO said the Ankara meeting will take place at the Beştepe Presidential Complex and will be chaired by Secretary General Mark Rutte.
The summit comes at a sensitive moment for the alliance. Leaders are expected to discuss defence spending, industrial production, support for Ukraine, the Black Sea posture, southern flank security and the implications of the Iran war for alliance cohesion. A NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum will be held in Ankara on July 7, bringing together senior officials and defence industry representatives before the leaders' meeting.
U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to attend, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan saying bilateral talks are likely on the summit margins. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and leaders or senior representatives from partner countries are also expected in Ankara. Reuters reported that South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will attend and join a meeting involving Indo-Pacific partners from Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
The lockdown adds a harder layer to Ankara's wider summit year, after the city had already been promoted as both a NATO host capital and a 2026 tourism showcase.
Türkiye's role as host carries added weight because of its position between the Black Sea, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and Europe's defence-industrial debate. Ankara has argued that the alliance cannot build a credible security architecture while maintaining defence trade restrictions on Türkiye.
That diplomatic agenda is now being matched by a security footprint visible across the capital. Ankara is being reorganized for several days around the movement, protection and political choreography of the NATO alliance.
Sources: TRT Haber, Anadolu Agency, Ankara Governorate, NATO, Reuters, Cumhuriyet, Bosphorus News review and reporting.