Turkish authorities conducted a crackdown on various 2SLGBTQ+ organizations and individuals in the early hours of Sunday, detaining numerous members, raiding association offices, and targeting popular meeting spots. This crackdown, part of a long-standing antipathy towards 2SLGBTQ+ groups, particularly intensified in the run-up to elections, with simultaneous police operations commencing at 1 a.m. in major cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Aydin, and Mersin.
The Justice Minister, Akin Gürlek, announced on social media that the crackdown targeted 162 suspects, nine associations, and 13 businesses to safeguard children, uphold family values, and maintain public order, in alignment with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decade-long executive order regarding families and children. Gürlek emphasized the state’s constitutional obligation to protect families and children, stating a zero-tolerance policy towards any criminal activities that endanger children, youth, or families.
The raids encompassed both current and former members of several prominent 2SLGBTQ+ rights and HIV awareness groups, with the organizations’ websites being blocked. Gürlek also mentioned that these associations were identified to have substantial financial backing from international sources and agencies.
The Human Rights Association denounced the raids, describing them as a political maneuver to impose a singular family model on society and eliminate LGBTI+ and independent civil society under the pretext of family and children protection. The Justice and Development Party, under Erdogan’s leadership, a religious conservative party, has increasingly voiced opposition against 2SLGBTQ+ groups to appeal to the more conservative factions of its support base.
In a historical context, the Ottoman Empire, the precursor to modern Turkey, decriminalized homosexuality in 1858; nevertheless, significant social discrimination persists. The party had previously banned the Istanbul Pride event in 2015, which used to draw tens of thousands of participants annually, and since then, authorities have forcefully dispersed any attempts to hold Pride-related gatherings.
Recently, a 2SLGBTQ+ cruise ship that typically tours the Mediterranean and has visited Turkey in the past was denied entry this summer.