Ankara, Türkiye: NATO summit accreditation decisions have drawn criticism after independent Turkish media outlets were denied access to cover the 2026 Ankara Summit on July 7 and 8, press freedom groups said.
The International Federation of Journalists and other press freedom, free expression and human rights organisations raised the issue in a letter to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
The groups said NATO’s Office of Strategic Communications rejected accreditation requests by email from several Turkish media outlets and journalists.
They named Halk TV, Sözcü TV, Nefes, BirGün, Cumhuriyet, ANKA News Agency, Medyascope and T24 among affected outlets.
The letter said some rejected journalists had covered previous NATO summits. It also said rejection notices gave no detailed reason and described the decision as final.
The groups cited a NATO spokesperson as saying the alliance relies on the host nation to assess local journalists’ access to the meeting site.
However, the spokesperson also said NATO considers in-person media access important for major events.
The organisations said Türkiye’s Directorate of Communications operates under the Presidency and has faced criticism from international press freedom groups over media accreditation practices.
They said NATO’s reliance on host-nation assessments raised concern that editorial or political positions may have influenced the rejected applications.
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The letter said NATO’s own criteria list editorial independence as an eligibility requirement. The groups said rejecting outlets known for editorial independence was difficult to reconcile with that standard.
The organisations asked NATO to explain the criteria used in the accreditation process for the 2026 Ankara Summit. They also requested written reasons for rejected applications.
In addition, they urged NATO to reconsider affected applications and restore access for outlets that meet the alliance’s criteria. The groups also called for an immediate appeals process to be in place before the summit opens.
