🔶 Dozens detained in raids on LGBTQ associations in Turkey

🔶 Dozens detained in raids on LGBTQ associations in Turkey

Following a police raid on several associations active in the rights of LGBTQ people (+LGBTQ) across Turkey, 26 people were detained.

According to Reuters, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced on Sunday, September 13 (Shahrivar 22), that in this operation, carried out in 12 provinces against 38 suspects, police forces discovered and seized “drugs, digital equipment, smuggled alcohol, and a firearm.”

In addition to Istanbul, the operation was also carried out in Ankara, Izmir, and Antalya, and it was reported that searches to find additional suspects are

According to Reuters, the LGBTQ association “Khaos GL” based in Ankara said that at least 50 activists had been detained.

According to the association, police detained several members of the board of directors after raiding the association’s office.

Some others were also detained after police raided their residential homes.

The association also said that authorities blocked access to dozens of websites and user accounts related to LGBTQ organizations, activists, and human rights defenders on social media.

Anadolu news agency, citing a statement from the prosecutor’s office, reported that the purpose of this nationwide operation was “to prevent the normalization” of activities related to sexual orientation and gender identity.

The raids on these associations took place within a campaign titled “My Family Is Safe,” and concurrently with the promotion of the “decade of family and population” program by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the president of Turkey.

The Turkish government claims that the campaign is being carried out with the aim of “protecting family values.”

Erdoğan said that the purpose of the “decade of family and population” program is to combat falling birth rates and Turkey’s aging population.

Human rights groups accuse the Turkish government of increasingly targeting the LGBTQ community in recent years with a more hostile tone and additional restrictions, turning it into an ever-growing object of intimidation and repression.

“The Human Rights Association of Turkey,” in a post on X after condemning the repressive approach of Erdoğan’s government, wrote: “The real name of this operation is not ‘My Family Is Safe’; rather, this is state-organized discrimination, the policy of creating fear, and dismantling civil society.”

According to Reuters, the Istanbul prosecutor’s office said that evidence obtained indicates that children and underage adolescents have been affected inappropriately by issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity.