Dozens arrested in anti-LGBTQ raids in Turkey

CRACKDOWN: The European Parliament’s rapporteur on Turkey Nacho Sanchez Amor condemned the arrests as ‘a shocking escalation in the repression’ in the country

Turkish police on Sunday swooped on gay bars and the homes of LGBTQ activists, arresting at least 60 people in raids authorities said were aimed at boosting traditional family values, officials and activists said.

Turkey’s LGBTQ community has frequently been targeted by the government, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashing it as a “deviant movement” of “perverts” responsible for the falling birthrate.

Sunday’s raid came a day after the accounts of more than a dozen Turkish LGBTQ organizations were blocked on X at the request of the authorities, a watchdog said.

Turkish police officers stand outside a night club in Istanbul on Sunday during a raid.

Photo: Demiroren News Agency via AFP

“As part of the ‘My Family is Safe’ operations ... carried out in collaboration with our police and gendarmerie forces, legal proceedings have been initiated against 162 suspects, 9 organizations and 13 companies in ... a total of 15 provinces,” Turkish Minister of Justice Akin Gurlek posted on social media. Many were around Istanbul and Ankara.

Gurlek said the raids were part of the “Decade of the Family” proclaimed by Erdogan, aimed at “protecting our children, the institution of the family and social order.”

At least 63 people were detained, the Turkish state’s Anadolu Agency reported.

LGBTQ and women’s rights activists form one of the main centers of resistance to the Islamist-rooted conservative government in power since 2002.

In Istanbul, police raided several gay bars and a nightclub regarded as a haven for the LGBTQ community, video footage from pro-government media showed.

Also targeted was a men’s hammam reputed to be a venue for prostitution.

LGBTQ rights organisation Kaos GL, whose offices were searched and whose leaders were taken into custody, earlier said that “nearly 50 defenders of the rights of LGBTQ people ... have been taken into custody or are subject to legal proceedings involving interrogations or detentions” across the country.

Judicial authorities in Ankara had alleged that Kaos GL made “posts containing obscenity” on its Web site and social media channels, and that the content was accessible to children, the group said.

While same-sex relations are not a criminal offense in Turkey, homophobia is widespread.

The European Parliament’s rapporteur on Turkey condemned the arrests as “a shocking escalation in the repression” in the country. Turkey’s efforts to join the EU have been frozen in the past few years, but it remains a key trade and political partner.

“This imposition of a moral agenda is a blatant violation of fundamental rights & Turkey’s international commitments taking the country down a dark path,” Nacho Sanchez Amor wrote on social media.

“Existence cannot be banned or restricted. LGBTI+ rights are human rights,” Ozgul Saki, a legislator from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party, said on social media.