X marks the spot: Turkiye mounts fresh crackdown on LGBTQ accounts after Erdogan’s ‘perverts’ jab

The X accounts, followed by tens of thousands of people, were not accessible in Turkiye without a VPN connection, according to AFP — Geber86/ETX Studio pic

First Published: Sunday, 13 Sep 2026 8:58 AM MYT

ISTANBUL, Sept 13 — Accounts of more than a dozen Turkish LGBTQ organisations have been blocked on the X social media platform at the request of authorities advocating traditional family values, a watchdog said on Saturday.

Among the blocked accounts are that of Kaos GL rights organisation and lawyer Levent Piskin, the Ifod media watchdog said.

The X accounts, followed by tens of thousands of people, were not accessible in Turkey without a VPN connection, AFP observed on Saturday.

Turkey’s LGBTQ community has been frequently targeted by the authorities, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashing the community as a “deviant movement” of “perverts”.

In June, Turkey blocked some 40 X accounts linked to feminist or LGBTQ groups.

Last year, the Turkish authorities persuaded X to block more than 700 accounts critical of authorities, at the height of a wave of protests triggered by the arrest of Istanbul’s opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu. — AFP