(AA Photo)
Türkiye is stepping up security measures ahead of the U.N.’s annual climate summit, COP31, which will be held in Antalya next month, with 26,000 security personnel expected to be deployed on the ground, Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi has said.
“Nearly 100 heads of state and government, 200 to 300 ministers and around 20,000 delegates are expected to attend. In addition, daily visitor numbers are projected to reach 100,000. We therefore need to plan and assess security arrangements for each of these groups separately,” Çiftçi said in a televised interview on Oct. 24.
COP31 will take place from Nov. 9 to 20 in Antalya, a Mediterranean coastal city.
Security arrangements will involve not only police and gendarmerie forces but also the coast guard, Çiftçi said.
“We will have 26,000 personnel deployed on the ground. We have security plans and measures in place for land, sea and air,” he said.
Çiftçi added that Türkiye would implement security measures in Antalya similar to those introduced for the NATO leaders’ summit held in the capital Ankara in July.
“We have divided the areas where leaders, heads of government, ministers and delegations will stay into five zones. Around 1,500 special operations personnel will be deployed at the summit venue,” he said.
“All routes have been planned, from the moment leaders arrive at the airport to their transfer to hotels, as well as the routes they will use to travel from their hotels to the venue of the climate summit,” Çiftçi added.
The venue includes a Green Zone open to the public, while official negotiations will take place in the Blue Zone, accessible only to registered participants.
Transport arrangements will include low-emission buses and electric shuttles, with 630 additional vehicles being deployed.
Authorities estimated that COP31 would generate about $2 billion in direct economic activity for Antalya, benefiting businesses in accommodation, transport, retail, construction and event production.
