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Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi said about 26,000 personnel will be on duty for the COP31 climate conference, which will take place in Antalya from Nov. 9 to 20. He said the General Directorate of Security, the Gendarmerie General Command and the Coast Guard Command have put wide-ranging measures in place for the event.

Speaking on a Lider Haber live broadcast, Çiftçi laid out the scale of the deployment, along with figures on organized crime, drug seizures and counter-terrorism operations. He also said the nationwide collection of stray animals into shelters and natural habitats has been completed.

Security plan built around Antalya and neighboring provinces

Çiftçi said the conference will be held on a one-million-square-meter site and that his ministry is responsible for its security. He said close to 100 heads of state and government, 200 to 300 ministers and a delegation of 20,000 are expected, along with a planned 100,000 visitors a day. "Sahada 26 bin personelimiz görev yapacak," Çiftçi said, adding that plans cover land, sea and air.

The measures mirror those used for the 36th NATO Summit of heads of state and government held in Ankara, he said. Antalya is the core zone, provinces around it form the first and second rings, and border and port provinces make up the third. Teams working on security, public order, terrorism, narcotics and cybercrime are concentrating their measures toward Antalya.

Routes from the airport to hotels and on to the summit venue have been mapped in advance, airport police will stand watch on a 24-hour basis, and accommodation areas for leaders, ministers and delegations have been divided into five zones. About 1,500 special operations officers will be stationed at the venue and some 3,298 traffic police will be on duty. The Coast Guard Command will deploy 207 personnel with a corvette, assault boats, helicopters and special operations teams against possible incidents at sea.

Çiftçi also said cyberattacks during the summit are expected, and that cybercrime departments within the security and gendarmerie commands and provincial units continue their online patrols.

Ambulances assigned to each leader

The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) has made its preparations in Antalya, where 15 AFAD teams and 120 personnel are working with the metropolitan municipality and the fire department, Çiftçi said. He said one ambulance will be assigned to each head of state and government, with 110 ambulances, around 300 health personnel and 21 National Medical Rescue (UMKE) teams on standby.

Explaining the reasoning, Çiftçi said emergency and extraordinary situations have to be anticipated. "Geçmişte yaşanan hadiselerden de ders çıkartmak suretiyle her birine 1 ambulans vereceğiz," he said.

Under Law No. 2911 on meetings and demonstrations marches, holding protests in Turkey requires the Interior Ministry's permission. Çiftçi said the ministry has transferred that authority to the Antalya Governor's Office for one month. He added that climate and security are directly connected, a link seen more clearly recently, and offered condolences to the families of those who died in the flooding in Istanbul.

Stray animal collection completed nationwide

Work on stray animals began in the 51 provinces that are not metropolitan municipalities and expanded to 30 metropolitan provinces in August, Çiftçi said. Shelters and natural habitats were set up, animals were collected, treated, sterilized and put up for adoption.

Çiftçi said the process was completed on Oct. 21, 2026, when the last stray animal in Diyarbakır was taken into a shelter, and that the targeted figure had been reached across Turkey as of Wednesday. "Yüzde 100 olarak tamamen topladık," he said, adding that the animals are fed and vaccinated in those areas and adopted out where there is demand.

Crime group operations yield arrests and asset seizures

Çiftçi named two priorities for the ministry: fighting new-generation crime organizations more effectively and intensifying the fight against drugs on both the supply and demand side. As terrorist organizations lost ground and the PKK dissolved itself and laid down its arms, he said, the resulting space was taken over by new-generation crime organizations, which he described as "üniformasız teröristler." He said these groups organize through social media and digital platforms, threaten people, recruit members and extort money by shooting at homes, vehicles and workplaces.

In the first nine months of 2026, 1,741 operations were carried out against 625 new-generation or organized crime groups, leading to 8,170 arrests, Çiftçi said. Roughly 95 billion lira in criminal proceeds, including money, real estate and vehicles, was seized.

Some leaders and members fled abroad and continued to direct activities in Turkey through digital platforms, Çiftçi said. He raised cross-border crime during visits to Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece and Belgium, and said 736 people from 44 countries have been extradited to Turkey. Georgia provided the largest support, returning 61 people recently, and Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia agreed to set up a trilateral mechanism to strengthen cooperation. In Belgium, where authorities have not responded positively to extradition requests so far, Turkey has asked for five people who fled there after committing crimes in Turkey. Çiftçi said he will visit Germany, Italy and other countries soon.

On drugs, Çiftçi reported that operations this year seized about 39 tons of narcotics, 103 million drug pills and 20 million cannabis and skunk roots. Of the 434,000 people in Turkish prisons, 36 percent are held on drug offenses. In the first nine months of 2026, 42,377 drug operations led to the arrests of 35,819 people.

Fraud project and school safety measures

Cyber patrols identified 197,491 people or accounts carrying criminal elements in the first nine months of this year, and access was blocked to 42,101 websites and social media accounts, including illegal betting sites, Çiftçi said. The Gendarmerie General Command's "Dolunay" fraud-fighting center project has reached the legislative stage; it foresees joint work by prosecutors, police, gendarmerie, MASAK and the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK), using artificial intelligence to speed up complaints, freeze accounts and intervene effectively within 18 minutes.

Of the 102,000 associations under the ministry, 400 received 350 million lira in cash support this year through the PRODES program, with priority given to projects on drug addiction, digital dependency, martyrs' and veterans' families and people with disabilities.

Çiftçi, who took office eight months ago, said the ministry's main duty is protecting citizens' lives and property. He said crimes against persons fell 11.5 percent and property crimes fell 31 percent compared with the same period last year, and that the goal is to build a "Century of Tranquility" within the Turkey Century vision of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. A protocol signed by seven ministries covers school security so that students can travel to and from school safely.

Çiftçi said no household has lost a martyr in two years under the "Terror-Free Turkey" process. With the PKK disarmed, that particular fight has ended, but operations continue against FETÖ, groups that exploit religion and other far-left radical terrorist organizations, he said. He noted positive developments in Syria and Iraq under the "Terror-Free Region" process, voiced hope for similar progress in Iran, and said resources freed from the fight against terrorism will be directed toward development.

Key takeaways

• About 26,000 Interior Ministry personnel will be deployed for COP31 in Antalya, running from Nov. 9 to 20.
• Some 1,500 special operations officers and around 3,298 traffic police will be on duty, with one ambulance assigned to each head of state and government.
• In the first nine months of 2026, 1,741 operations against 625 crime groups led to 8,170 arrests and seizures worth about 95 billion lira.
• Turkey says the nationwide collection of stray animals into shelters and natural habitats has been fully completed.