State Terror Against the World Anti-imperialist Youth Platform in Turkey

SolidarioGB | 2 July 2026

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What Happened

In the early hours of 1 July 2026, Turkish police raided a youth camp on the outskirts of Istanbul. By 8:00 AM, around 20 comrades—international delegates of the World Anti-imperialist Youth Platform and Turkish youth activists—were in handcuffs. They are now held at Çanakkale Police Station.

These were not provocateurs. These were young people gathered for the 3rd International Anti-imperialist Conference and related seminars—internal, theoretical, academic events. They deliberately chose a location seven hours from Istanbul, far from Ankara, precisely to avoid this kind of confrontation. The state came for them anyway.

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The Bigger Picture: A NATO Summit Lockdown

This is not an isolated incident. It is part of a systematic, premeditated purge by the Erdoğan government ahead of the NATO Summit:

• Since June: A so-called “anti-terror operation” orchestrated through the Ankara Prosecutor’s Office
• 500+ arrests: Progressive party members, workers, youth organisers
• Total assembly ban in Ankara: 28 June – 10 July
• Military lockdown: Airports, summit venues, delegate hotels sealed off
• Martial law by another name: Administrative orders used to suspend basic rights

Turkey’s own constitution guarantees freedom of thought and academia. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Turkey ratified in 2003, protects expression. The Erdoğan regime is wiping its feet on both.

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Why This Matters to SolidarioGB

We have seen this script before. The state does not fear violence. It fears organisation. It fears international solidarity. It fears young people who understand the system and refuse to accept it.

The Youth Platform did everything “right” by liberal standards: they held internal events, avoided public confrontation, stayed far from the summit. The state still came. This proves the repression is not about public order—it is about silencing anti-imperialist consciousness itself.

And NATO? NATO is the umbrella under which this happens. The summit is the excuse. The military alliance provides the political cover for Erdoğan’s fascist machinery to operate with impunity.

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SolidarioGB Stands With the Detained

We demand:

1. Immediate and unconditional release of all detained Youth Platform delegates and Turkish activists
2. Drop all charges related to these arrests
3. End the NATO Summit crackdown and the “anti-terror” purge
4. Disband NATO—an instrument of imperialist aggression and global repression

We reject the framing that resistance is terrorism. We reject the idea that young people studying anti-imperialism are a threat to “national security.” The real threat to security is NATO, is imperialism, is the fascist state that serves it.

To the detained comrades in Çanakkale: You are not alone. Your imprisonment is a testament to your effectiveness. The state only jails those it cannot ignore.

To the World Anti-imperialist Youth Platform: SolidarioGB stands with you. We will amplify your voices. We will not let this disappear from the narrative.

To all youth and workers: This is what imperialism looks like up close. Not abstract policy—boots at 3:00 AM, handcuffs at 8:00 AM, cells in Çanakkale. The response cannot be abstract either. Organise. Solidarise. Resist.

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SolidarioGB
Independence, Democracy, Peace—Against Imperialism and Fascism