UN calls for release of detainees in anti-LGBT+ operation in Turkey

A protest against a police operation targeting the LGBT+ community was dispersed in Turkey. During the incident, police detained two demonstrators, one of whom was a lawyer.

Among the slogans chanted by the demonstrators were phrases such as: 'In defiance of hate, live life!', 'You will never be alone,' and 'May your call for the 'sacred family' go to hell.'

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan regularly criticizes the LGBT+ community (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender people, and others), calling its members 'perverts' and responsible for the sharp decline in birth rates in the country. Erdoğan announced the start of the 'decade of the family' in 2026.

As part of a government campaign called 'My Family is Safe,' legal proceedings have been initiated against 162 suspects, nine associations, and thirteen companies across 15 provinces in Turkey. Among these provinces, as stated by Justice Minister Akın Gürlek on social media X on Sunday, are the country's three largest cities: Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir.

Numerous accounts belonging to human rights organizations and media outlets have been blocked on social networks. Police conducted dozens of arrests in 'gay bars' and homes of LGBT+ activists based on charges of 'obscenity,' 'support for prostitution,' and 'financial ties with foreign states.'

According to the freedom of speech defense association Iföd, the same accounts were blocked on X and Instagram today, including pages of the newspaper Evrensel, Amnesty International Turkey, Academics for Peace, and the Association of Studies on Social Communication and Law (MLSA).

According to the organization Kaos GL, whose accounts were blocked, search objects were raided, and leaders were detained, Ankara prosecutors accuse it of publishing 'pornographic content' accessible to children.

The Turkish Minister of Justice stated on social media X that the government will continue 'efforts to protect the family, children, and youth from any forms of exploitation, obscenity, crime, and harmful content.' He added that 'we will not tolerate any criminal organization that attacks the institution of the family, the future of our youth, and the order of our society.'

On the evening of the same day, organizers of the rally in Izmir strongly condemned such statements. They stated in a declaration that 'protecting the family does not mean detaining people at night from their homes, conducting raids on association headquarters, criminalizing defenders of rights, or turning the identity and existence of LGBT+ people into an object of investigation.'

For its part, the European Union (EU) expressed its 'concern' over the actions of the Turkish government. Christian Vighand, spokesperson for the European Commission, noted that 'Brussels reminds Turkey, as a candidate country for accession to the European Union and a long-standing member of the Council of Europe, that it must promote and guarantee respect for human rights and the dignity of all people, regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation.'

Although homosexuality is not a criminal offense in Turkey, it is widely condemned, and homophobia is prevalent in the country, even at the highest levels of power.