A sweeping government crackdown on LGBTQ+ communities and rights organizers across Turkey has led to dozens of additional arrests this week, escalating a growing campaign that has drawn widespread condemnation from international human rights bodies. The latest detentions came Tuesday, when hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside Istanbul’s main central courthouse to demand the release of activists arrested just days earlier in a coordinated series of raids targeting gay bars and private homes of queer organizers.
According to reporting from Agence France-Presse, protestors at the Tuesday demonstration chanted calls for freedom and immediate release of all detained community members, with tensions flaring after a group of activists unfurled a banner declaring “Being LGBTQ is not a crime.” In response, police moved in to detain dozens of attendees, extending the dragnet that had already swept up dozens of community members over the preceding weekend.
This broad operation, which the Turkish government has branded the “My Family is Safe” campaign, is officially framed as an effort to protect traditional national family values. But rights monitors say the initiative is the latest escalation in a years-long push to marginalize Turkey’s LGBTQ+ community, which has faced growing legal and social hostility under the administration of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Over the past seven days alone, authorities have carried out raids on LGBTQ+ association offices, blocked dozens of official websites and social media accounts linked to queer and human rights groups, and made arrests across 15 different Turkish provinces.
Human Rights Watch, a leading global non-governmental rights organization, confirmed this week that the government has blocked or restricted digital access to more than 50 organizations spanning LGBTQ+ advocacy, independent media, and human rights work. While same-sex romantic relations have never been criminalized under Turkish law, systemic and cultural homophobia remains deeply entrenched in public life. Erdogan has repeatedly used inflammatory rhetoric against the community, most recently describing LGBTQ+ people as “perverts” and falsely blaming them for the country’s declining birth rate.
International oversight bodies have swiftly raised alarm over the expanding crackdown. Michael O’Flaherty, Commissioner for Human Rights at the Council of Europe, issued a public statement this week expressing deep concern over the pattern of arrests, raids, and digital censorship targeting queer civil society and human rights defenders across the country. O’Flaherty’s statement confirmed details shared by Turkey’s Ministry of Justice, noting the current operation targets 162 individuals, nine LGBTQ+ and rights associations, and 13 independent businesses across the 15 provinces, coordinated by multiple regional Chief Public Prosecutors’ Offices. As of Wednesday, detentions are ongoing, and advocates warn the campaign is creating a climate of fear that threatens basic civil liberties for all queer people in Turkey.
One protestor who spoke to AFP captured the widespread anxiety within the community, saying, “What we are seeing now is deeply disturbing.” Rights groups warn the crackdown represents one of the most systematic pushes to erode LGBTQ+ rights in Turkey in recent history, raising new questions about the country’s commitment to international human rights standards.
Turkey arrests dozens in crackdown on LGBTQ+ activists
