Türkiye: vast crackdown on LGBT+ activists and searches in 15 provinces

Turkish police carried out numerous raids and arrests early on Sunday in bars and the homes of LGBT+ activists in the name of protecting the so-called “traditional” family, announced the authorities and one of the targeted associations.

“As part of the “My family is safe” […] operations, carried out in collaboration with our police and gendarmerie forces, legal proceedings were initiated against 162 suspects, 9 associations and 13 companies in […] a total of 15 provinces” including those of Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, the three main cities of the country, wrote on X the Turkish Minister of Justice, Akin Gürlek.

Under the pretext of protecting the “social order”

The minister did not specify how many people were taken into custody but stressed that these operations are part of the “Decade of the Family” proclaimed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in order to “protect our children, the family institution and the social order”.

In Istanbul, police raided several gay bars and a nightclub considered a refuge for the LGBT+ community, according to images from pro-government media. A men's hammam was also targeted.

The LGBT+ rights association Kaos GL, which says it is being prosecuted for the crime of “obscenity”, announced in a press release the arrest of “more than ten” of its members “following police searches at their homes”.

“According to the latest information collected on the ground, nearly 50 people campaigning for the rights of LGBTI+ people […] have been placed in police custody or are the subject of legal proceedings involving interrogations or police custody,” said the association, whose premises were searched.

State homophobia

Kaos GL's X account as well as those of around fifteen other LGBT+ organizations and activists had already been blocked on Saturday in Turkey at the request of the authorities, who also made several websites inaccessible and demanded the blocking of several dozen Instagram and YouTube accounts and Facebook pages.

Homosexuality is not criminally repressed in Turkey, but homophobia is widespread right up to the top of the state, with President Erdogan regularly describing LGBT+ people as “perverts” and holding them responsible for the decline in the birth rate.

“Existence cannot be prohibited or hindered. LGBTI+ rights are human rights! », reacted on