Turkey Arrests 31 in Sweeping LGBTQ+ Crackdown, Detains 126 Protesters
Thestandard · 2 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago2 MIN
Summary
Turkish authorities have escalated a nationwide campaign against LGBTQ+ groups with mass arrests and raids across 15 provinces, triggering international condemnation from the European Union and Council of Europe. The operation, dubbed My Family is Safe, has seen authorities detain at least 31 people pending trial, while police detained 126 protesters during demonstrations against the crackdown in Ankara and Istanbul. The sweep targeted gay bars, Turkish baths, rights organization offices and private residences, with authorities also blocking social media access to accounts of LGBTQ+ groups and human rights bodies.
Key Points
- Operation My Family is Safe involved 162 suspects, 9 associations and 13 businesses across 15 Turkish provinces
- On Sunday (September 13), police raided gay bars, Turkish baths, rights organization offices and private residences, arresting at least 63 people
- A Turkish court jailed 18 people pending trial in Izmir province on Monday, while five transgender women were arrested in Ankara
- Authorities blocked access to social media accounts of LGBTQ+ organizations, human rights groups including Amnesty International Turkey, and independent media on X and Instagram
- President Erdoğan has publicly described LGBTQ+ people as sexual deviants within a perverted movement and blamed de-gendering campaigns for declining birth rates
Why It Matters
Turkey's EU candidacy, already strained by democratic backsliding, faces renewed pressure as the bloc condemns the crackdown as fundamentally incompatible with European values. The arrests mark a significant intensification of what rights groups describe as a widening campaign against LGBTQ+ civil society, with the Council of Europe's human rights commissioner warning that references to family values cannot justify restrictions on fundamental rights. As a NATO ally straddling Europe and Asia, Turkey's treatment of sexual minorities reflects broader global tensions between conservative governance and LGBTQ+ rights.
Turkey's EU candidacy, already strained by democratic backsliding, faces renewed pressure as the bloc condemns the crackdown as fundamentally incompatible with European values. The arrests mark a significant intensification of what rights groups describe as a widening campaign against LGBTQ+ civil society, with the Council of Europe's human rights commissioner warning that references to family values cannot justify restrictions on fundamental rights. As a NATO ally straddling Europe and Asia, Turkey's treatment of sexual minorities reflects broader global tensions between conservative governance and LGBTQ+ rights.