A demonstrator holds a placard reading "NATO Defol" (NATO get out) during a protest ahead of the alliance's summit in Istanbul, Turkiye, on Sunday. ERDEM SAHIN/AP
ISTANBUL — As Turkiye prepares to host the NATO summit on Tuesday and Wednesday, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir over the weekend to denounce the alliance's push for higher defense spending.
Demonstrators carried banners reading "NATO wants war, workers want peace", "Budget for the people, not for NATO", and "No to NATO, no to war", while chanting slogans against the alliance.
In Istanbul, workers, civilians and members of political parties joined large rallies across the city, voicing their opposition to NATO's pressure on member states to increase military expenditures.
During a demonstration organized by the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkiye, Chair Arzu Cerkezoglu said expanding war budgets threatens social security and places a heavier economic burden on ordinary people.
