Ahead of the NATO Summit in Ankara on July 7–8, the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has not only declared a de facto 13-day state of emergency in the capital; over the past weekend it launched a new wave of repression across the country. So that the imperialist war criminals—led by US President Donald Trump, who is directing the war of aggression against Iran and who made the genocide in Gaza possible—can “rest easy,” hundreds more people opposed to war and NATO have been detained. This came on top of the hundreds of detentions and more than 200 arrests carried out over the preceding weeks.

On July 4, law students were detained in Tuzluçayır, Ankara; that same evening, at least nine people were detained in a raid on the Tuzluçayır branch of the Anatolian Culture and Research Association (AKA-DER).

On the morning of July 5, simultaneous house raids were carried out in at least 18 provinces. Among the organizations whose members and leaders were detained were the Workers’ Party of Türkiye (TİP), the Labour Party (EMEP), the Socialist Labourers’ Party (SEP), the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP), the SOL Party (Left Party), Halkevleri (People’s Houses), the Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD), the Revolutionary Youth Associations (DGD), the Revolutionary Movement (Devrimci Hareket), the Independent Revolutionary Class Platform (BDSP), the Socialist Struggle Initiative (SMİ), the Social Solidarity Platform (SODAP), Partizan, the Kaldıraç Movement, the Free University Movement, the Unity of Struggle (Mücadele Birliği), Labour Youth (Emek Gençliği), the Private Sector Teachers’ Union, and the Friendship and Culture Association. Among those detained were also editors of two news outlets (T24 and Oda TV).

On Sunday evening, police attacked the anti-NATO march of the Communist Party of Türkiye (TKP) in Kızılay, Ankara; more than a hundred people, including party leaders, were detained, and some were injured in the assault.

Political censorship on social media has escalated as well. Most recently, the X account of soL Haber, with roughly 924,000 followers, was blocked on the grounds of “national security.” This followed the recent shutdown of Sol Genç, Emek Gençliği (Labour Youth), Laborans, Toplumsal Muhalefet (Social Opposition), the DGD, Devrimci Hareket, Halkevleri, the Federation of Socialist Assemblies (SMF), the Istanbul Provincial Organization of the Communist Movement of Türkiye (TKH), Umut Gazetesi (Umut Newspaper), the NATO Get Out Campaign Platform, the Human Rights Association (İHD), and countless other accounts.

The imperialist war abroad—in which the Turkish ruling class takes part as a component of the US-NATO axis in pursuit of its own interests—and the police-state repression at home are two sides of the same coin. These operations, which treat legal and constitutional activities as “crimes,” are the product of the war encircling Türkiye from Ukraine to Iran, and of the drive to suppress the growing social opposition at home to war, austerity and political repression. With the approval of the capitals of the United States and Europe, the Erdoğan regime is consolidating a presidential dictatorship—one that serves as a model for every imperialist government confronting the same crisis of the capitalist system.

The Sosyalist Eşitlik Partisi – Dördüncü Enternasyonal demands:

•         The immediate release of all political prisoners who have been detained and arrested.

•         The lifting of the de facto state of emergency and all bans in Ankara, and an end to censorship.

•         The cancellation of the summit; Türkiye’s withdrawal from NATO and the dissolution of NATO. All resources squandered on militarism and war must be reallocated in accordance with the needs of society.

•         An end to the attacks on Iran, Gaza and Lebanon and to NATO’s war against Russia in Ukraine; the closure of all imperialist bases in Türkiye and across the region.

•         An end to every form of sanction and economic warfare waged against Iran, Cuba, Russia and other countries.

•         All war criminals must be held to account.

These events also expose the bankruptcy of the bourgeois opposition, which appeals to the very same NATO powers for “democracy” and “social peace” amid the mounting repression carried out in Türkiye on behalf of those NATO powers and with their approval.

The way to halt imperialist war and dictatorship lies in uniting and mobilizing the international working class on the basis of a socialist program. The International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) fights for this perspective all over the world. To advance this struggle, join the Sosyalist Eşitlik Partisi – Dördüncü Enternasyonal, the Turkish section of the ICFI.