63 detained after gay bars and LGBTQ+ groups raided in Turkey
At least 63 people have been detained after an anti-LGBTQ+ crackdown in Turkey. (Getty via AFP)
Turkish authorities have detained at least 63 people in a nationwide crackdown targeting LGBTQ+ organisations, activists and businesses across some of the country’s biggest cities.
Police raided gay bars, organisation offices and activists’ homes in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and Mersin on Sunday (13 September). Current and former members of LGBTQ+ rights and HIV awareness groups were among those targeted.
Several organisations had their websites blocked in the days leading up to the raids, Al Jazeera reports.
Turkey’s Justice Minister Akin Gürlek said in a social media post on Sunday that prosecutors were investigating 162 suspects, nine associations and 13 businesses as part of what authorities called the “My Family is Safe” operation. He said the investigation was intended to “protect children, the institution of the family, and public order”.
LGBTQ+ rights group Kaos GL said nearly 50 LGBTQ+ rights defenders had been taken into custody or were facing legal proceedings involving interrogations or detention, while state news agency Anadolu quoted prosecutors saying at least 63 people were detained.
Authorities in Ankara accused the organisation of publishing online posts containing “obscenity” that could be accessed by children.
“The real name of this operation is not ‘My Family is Safe’; it is state-led discrimination, politics of fear and the dismantling of civil society,” the Turkish Human Rights Association said in a social media post.
The raids are part of a broader deterioration in LGBTQ+ rights in Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government.
The governing AK Party banned Istanbul Pride in 2015, and attempts to hold Pride events and other LGBTQ+ gatherings have repeatedly been met with police intervention and violent dispersals, as reported by Al Jazeera.
The European Parliament’s rapporteur on Turkey, Nacho Sánchez Amor, called the latest detentions “a shocking escalation in the repression” of LGBTQ+ people.
Is it safe for LGBTQ+ people to travel to Turkey?
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Turkey, but conservative attitudes towards LGBTQ+ remain widespread and travellers are advised to be cautious when travelling.
The UK government’s foreign travel advice for Turkey states: “Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Turkey. However, many parts of Turkey are socially conservative and showing affection in public could receive unwelcome attention.”
