Antalya is about to host one of the biggest events in its history. From 9 to 20 November 2026, the Turkish resort city will welcome the 31st UN Climate Change Conference (COP31), and the government is treating security like a military operation. Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi announced that 26,000 personnel from the national police, gendarmerie and coast guard will be deployed across the city and surrounding region.
The scale is staggering. Nearly 100 heads of state and government are expected, along with 200 to 300 ministers and roughly 20,000 delegates — with planners bracing for around 100,000 visitors a day. The conference itself sits on a one-million-square-metre site, with accommodation for VIPs split into five separate security zones. Around 1,500 special operations officers will work the venue, backed by roughly 3,300 traffic police, while Coast Guard teams, a corvette, assault boats and helicopters patrol the waters offshore. Preparations are modelled on the security setup used at the recent NATO summit in Ankara.
For anyone travelling to Antalya during those dates, expect a city running at unusual intensity. Authorities have already fixed the routes leaders will take from the airport to hotels and on to the venue, with police stationed at the airport around the clock. Roads may close at short notice, and traffic around the conference zone will be heavily managed. Border and port provinces have been folded into the wider security perimeter, so checks could be stricter than usual across the region.
There is a medical and emergency layer too, which should reassure visitors. AFAD, Turkey's disaster agency, has assigned 120 staff and 15 teams to Antalya, with 110 ambulances and about 300 medical personnel on site, plus 21 National Medical Rescue Teams on standby. Each visiting head of state gets a dedicated ambulance. Cybercrime units will run online patrols throughout, reflecting concerns about digital attacks during the summit.
One detail worth noting for activists and curious onlookers: the Interior Ministry has handed authority for approving demonstrations and marches in Antalya to the provincial governor's office for a month, so any protests will face a permit process — and likely a heavy police presence.
Who should care? If you have a holiday booked in Antalya in mid-November, this matters directly: hotel prices, traffic, airport queues and general atmosphere will all be shaped by the summit. Business travellers and digital nomads in the city may face movement restrictions around the venue. On the flip side, if you're nowhere near Antalya, Istanbul, Cappadocia or the Aegean coast should carry on as normal — mid-November is low season in the region anyway. The practical move is to monitor local announcements, allow extra time for airport transfers, and consider shifting plans if your itinerary depends on getting around the conference zone. Daily Sabah Travel
