LGBTQ+ protesters defy crackdown in Turkey to march with Cop31 activists

Queer and gay protesters defied a crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights in Turkey to lead a civil society climate march on Saturday in the city hosting this year’s climate summit.

Turkey’s LGBTQ+ groups have faced increased persecution since September, with police targeting activists in their homes or at the offices of the NGOs that advocate for their rights.

But on Saturday afternoon, civil society campaigners from around the world that had gathered in Antalya for the UN climate summit formed a cordon around them as they unfurled rainbow flags.

Őzgǔr, a 20-year-old Turkish LGBTQ+ activist, marched defiantly with a rainbow flag wrapped over her shoulders. She said holding the flag “feels a bit dangerous” and that usually police would not allow it.

“It feels like I am living in a prison in this country. I am running all the time,” she said. “We can do this because the eyes of the international media are here.”

Another activist, who gave her name only as Beren, added: “I feel very excited about being able to wave the flag, but I would love my friend to be here. She is detained right now because she is trans.”

Turkish police ran a massive security operation around the march. Attenders were frisked twice and had bags searched on the way into Aydin Kanza Park, where the protest gathered. The entire route was cordoned off with steel barriers to prevent anyone entering or leaving until the end.

Police examined the slogans on protesters’ placards and in some cases photographed them. “We have all been told we have to bring our passports,” said Asad Rehman, the chief executive of Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland. “Our bags are being searched.

“It’s a very, very difficult time for Turkish movements who have faced a wave of repression. And so this is an important moment for us as the international movement to create some space for Turkish voices to be heard.”

The inclusion of LGBTQ+ activists on the march was carefully planned in advance. Protest organisers ensured that flags would be available, but they were not unfurled until the activists were safely surrounded by civil society groups and media.

Lucia Posteraro, a consultant at the International Federation of Human Rights, said: “The international organisations have been closely following the LGBT block to make sure there will not be any coercion actions from the security forces.”

Turkish environmental activists who joined the march said it also gave them space to highlight issues. “This march is very important because there are active local grassroots movements who are fighting to protect their villages, their forests, and they need to see the solidarity and the support from the international community,” said Özlem Katısöz of Climate Action Network in Turkey.

Activists from around the globe chanted, danced to trombones, walked on stilts and unfurled giant banners. “We defend life,” read one. A gold-plated bronze statue showed a naked Donald Trump being carried on the shoulders of a diminutive man, to represent the rich world’s exploitation of the poor.

“It’s so hot,” Greenpeace volunteer Ufuk Anil said, pulling off the large head of his polar bear costume. He had travelled from Istanbul to march in the head-to-toe animal suit, and in the midst of a muggy afternoon rainstorm he said it carried a dual message: “It is getting hotter and hotter every day,” Anil said, wiping sweat from his face. “We need to keep 1.5 alive.”

Anil said he was marching to call attention to an underwhelming climate agenda in Turkey and the continued import of plastics. But mostly he came on behalf of his young daughter. “I would like her to live in a much greener planet – much cooler,” he said. “We have to do it now – we don’t have much time.”

The protest was also an opportunity for activists from other countries with restricted civil space to draw attention to their campaigns. Triana Kurnia Wardani, of the Indonesian democratic women’s organisation Seruni, said she was marching to draw attention to the forest and land fires in her country that had been burning for months.

“Indonesia is burning right now. We have so many victims of the haze,” she said. “When we take action in our country, we get harassed by police. Our social media posts get blocked, so it is blocked from international attention.”

The march comes as the Cop31 summit reached its halfway point, with little progress yet made on substantive issues. Aditi Tiwari, the youth engagement leader at Voice of Aroha, said she still felt Cop could make a difference.

“Despite all the controversies, I think this is where we have the most influence, where we can make our voices heard by the world leaders who make those influential decisions,” she said. “So here’s to hoping that this Cop is way different than the rest and we can [have] some hopeful outcomes.”

Louise Hutchins, a co-convener of the Make Polluters Pay international coalition, said: “Yesterday, we stood with the UN secretary-general, who told us: ‘You’re on the right side of history. Keep going.’

“Today, we’re back on the streets at Cop31 with thousands of people from around the world, demanding that governments make polluters pay. We promised to keep up the fight. And we won’t stop until we win climate justice.”

Negotiations were still under way at the conference centre. Simon Stiell, the UN’s chief climate negotiator, urged countries to “move swiftly to the hardest issues to avoid tactical delays”.

“There is no collective success without compromise from every party,” Stiell said.