Ankara (AFP) – Along the highway from Ankara airport to the city centre, municipal workers have been planting flowers and installing giant billboards to shield views of dilapidated homes and poorer neighbourhoods.
Issued on: 04/07/2026 - 07:36
4 min Reading time
Ahead of a high-stakes NATO summit that begins Tuesday, the Turkish capital has had a facelift to burnish its image for the 32 heads of state who will fly in, among them US President Donald Trump.But the makeover and the strict security measures put in place -- which will shut down several major roads, forcing shops to close -- will make life difficult for residents and business owners in this city of nearly six million people, drawing sharp criticism from locals and opposition politicians."Ankara has practically become an open-air prison... The entire capital has been brought to a standstill to facilitate the movement of a few official motorcades," said Tuncer Bakirhan, co-chair of the pro-Kurdish opposition party DEM.
Rumours that some of the city's parks were to be closed as a running route for France's President Emmanuel Macron sparked protests © Adem ALTAN / AFP
