ANKARA, Turkey (AP) 鈥� Security forces in the Turkish capital carried out sweeping raids on Tuesday ahead of next month鈥檚 NATO summit, and detained more than 200 people with suspected links to extremist groups, , officials said.
Some media outlets, however, reported that some of those detained were politicians or activists, leading to allegations of arbitrary detentions.
U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to join other leaders of the 32鈥憁ember alliance in Ankara for the July 7鈥�8 summit.
Turkey is planning strict security measures for the summit, including banning demonstrations and restricting access to roads leading to airports, as well as sealing off areas around the summit venue and hotels hosting delegations.
Turkish President has prioritized security and authorities regularly carry out security raids. Last month, security forces detained 324 people suspected of links to the .
Early on Tuesday, Turkish prosecutors issued detention orders for 241 suspects, and 209 of them were subsequently taken into custody in police and gendarmerie raids around Ankara, according to a statement from the chief prosecutor鈥檚 office. The raids were still underway later Tuesday to take in the rest of the suspects.
Among those detained were 56 alleged Islamic State militants and 35 members of the Revolutionary People鈥檚 Liberation Party/Front, a far鈥憀eft group known for armed attacks and assassinations in Turkey, the statement said.
Birgun, an independent left-leaning newspaper, and other media reported that a politician, an LGBTQ activist and at least three lawyers allegedly close to left-wing groups were also among the detained. That lead to concerns that the government could be using security as a pretext to silence critics and prevent possible anti-NATO demonstrations during the summit.
鈥淭his arbitrary wave of detentions and arrests targeting leftist and socialist institutions once again reveals the state the country has reached,鈥� the pro-Kurdish Peoples鈥� Equality and Democracy Party, DEM, said. 鈥淭urning Ankara into a giant prison with bans imposed for the NATO Summit is unacceptable.鈥�
The Islamic State group has also carried out , including the 2017 New Year鈥檚 shooting at an Istanbul nightclub that killed 39 people.
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