NATO allies have grown silent on rights concerns in Turkey ahead of a summit in Ankara. The West has avoided publicly raising concerns about Turkey’s record on rights and freedoms, instead focusing on boosting security ties with the regional military power and big arms exporter.
Western Silence
Some critics of Erdogan’s government believe the relative Western silence encourages its authoritarian slide, isolates Turkey’s opposition, and ignores NATO’s founding principles of democracy and rule of law. The West’s diplomatic pivot will be on display when the leaders of NATO’s 32 member states meet in Ankara on July 7 to 8.
They are not expected to criticize an unprecedented legal crackdown on Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), including the jailing of its presidential candidate, Istanbul’s Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, Erdogan’s main rival, according to Western and Turkish diplomats involved in summit planning.
Detentions and Restrictions
To the alarm of rights groups ahead of the NATO summit, dozens of Turkish journalists from independent media outlets have been denied access to cover the event, while authorities have detained more than 200 people, citing security concerns.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
