As Turkiye prepares to host the upcoming NATO summit in Ankara this Tuesday and Wednesday, thousands of demonstrators gathered in Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir over the weekend to protest the alliance's push for increased defense spending. Protesters, including workers, civilians, and political party members, voiced strong opposition to the pressure on member states to expand military expenditures. Arzu Cerkezoglu, Chair of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkiye, argued that rising war budgets threaten social security and place heavy economic burdens on citizens. Meanwhile, the Communist Party of Turkiye criticized the diversion of funds from social services to the arms industry. These protests occur as NATO discusses pathways to meet the 2025 commitment to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2035, a long-standing demand from Washington.