Turkish police use tear gas to disperse LGBTQ protest in Izmir
About 200 people demonstrated against nationwide raids targeting LGBTQ venues, associations and activists’ homes, as the European Union raised concerns over arrests and legal proceedings.
Turkish police used tear gas to disperse about 200 pro-LGBTQ demonstrators in Izmir on Monday, according to an AFP photographer, as activists protested a nationwide crackdown.
The protest followed raids in several cities in which authorities arrested dozens of people. Two protesters, including a lawyer, were detained, an AFP journalist reported.
Authorities said the raids were intended to promote or protect “traditional family values” under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “Decade of the Family” initiative. Organisers rejected that justification, arguing that it was being used to criminalise human rights defenders and target LGBTQ people.
The European Commission expressed concern over the arrests and legal proceedings involving LGBTQ activists, human rights associations and businesses, and urged Ankara to respect human rights.
The Freedom of Expression Association said several rights-group and media accounts were blocked after the raids, including accounts linked to Evrensel, Amnesty International Turkey, Academics for Peace, the Media and Law Studies Association and Kaos GL. Kaos GL said its offices were searched and executives detained; it said prosecutors accused the group of publishing content deemed “obscene”.
Same-sex relations are legal in Turkey, but hostility towards LGBTQ people remains widespread.
