LGBTQ+ communities around the world should fear Turkey intensifying clampdown

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Back in July, when a Virgin Gay Cruise ship was banned from stopping in a Turkish port, the official reason was that the group was “known for behaviors incompatible with the fabric of our society and our moral values”. i.e. the 1000 passngers were GAY and Rich Campbell, the president and CEO of Atlantis Events, told CNN “It’s very concerning to me when a country decides they can pick and choose which tourists are allowed in and which are not,” and added #that it was the first time in 36 years that the company has been “actively told we may not berth here because of who we are.”

We certainly have no plans to visit, and we encourage anyone who relates to the LGBTQA+ community to do the same. That incident highlighted how homophobic and dangerous Turkish culture has gotten, and recently it is getting much worse and the Human Rights Group said the Government’s major crackdown on groups and activists defending the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people threatens the rule of law and fundamental rights in the country

On September 12-14, 2026, coordinated police raids targeted seven groups defending the rights of LGBT people and two supporting people living with HIV, as well as bars and nightclubs in five cites an police arrested at least 112 people, with 82 still detained under court order.

On September 12, Türkiye’s Justice Minister Akın Gürlek announced that 162 people were under investigation in an operation named “My Family Is Safe,” carried out in the context of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s May decree announcing a “decade of the family.”In recent years, Turkish officials have repeatedly invoked protection of so-called family values to justify discrimination against LGBT people. The crackdown has nothing to do with protecting families and everything to do with entrenching hateful discrimination, Human Rights Watch said.

The justice minister announced that the investigations involved criminal charges including “obscenity,” sex work, and drug-related offenses. He also said that “LGBT and immorality promoting associations” are funded from international sources. That sounds exactly like The Orange Man in the US

The arrests and raids on associations and businesses in different cities have been conducted as separate investigations under the orders of chief prosecutors’ offices in those cities. The justice minister announced that the investigations involved criminal charges including “obscenity,” sex work, and drug-related offenses. He also said that “LGBT and immorality promoting associations” are funded from international sources. .

The court also ordered the detention of journalist Tuğba Tekerek. The only evidence the prosecutor cited against her is a 2024 news report she wrote mentioning LGBT rights in Georgia, published on the Kaos news portal. In Mersin, a court detained six activists, including a lawyer, associated with two LGBT rights organizations in the city, accusing them of “obscenity” and sex work-related offenses. In Kuşadası, a court detained two activists from a local LGBT initiative. In Istanbul, the chief prosecutor’s investigation into LGBT rights associations and groups supporting the right to health of people living with HIV included arrests of activists, founders, and executives of the groups on suspicion of “founding, leading or being a member of a criminal organization,” “obscenity,” sex work and drug-related offenses, and violations of the laws on associations.

Human Rights Watch has seen a restriction order on the investigation file, which means that information about the evidence and content of the investigation is currently withheld.

On September 14, police using pepper spray intervened in a gathering in Izmir over the anti-LGBT crackdown and arrested two people. On September 15, police surrounded and arrested over 100 people who had assembled to protest the crackdown in front of the Istanbul Caglayan courthouse. They were held for over 24 hours, then released.

According to the Freedom of Expression Association, which monitors restrictions on online content in Türkiye, between September 12 and 16, courts issued orders to block dozens of social media platforms and websites belonging to LGBT and other rights groups, rights activists, and individuals. The X (formerly Twitter) accounts of Amnesty International in Türkiye, the daily newspaper Evrensel, the Media and Law Studies Association, a media freedom group, and Hak İnisiyatifi, a human rights group, were also ordered blocked and remain blocked.

On September 14, the justice minister issued a circular to chief prosecutor’s offices throughout Türkiye titled “Protecting the Family, Young People and Society from Violations of General Morality and Negative Content and Entities.” The circular encourages prosecutors to investigate “activities encouraging the erasure of gender distinctions in children and young people,” collect digital evidence, and request the blocking or removal of online content. The circular specifies that investigations may approach the issues as organized crime and financial crime investigations.

“The systematic criminalization of LGBT rights groups and activists and blocking of online content advocating for or reporting on them is part of the Erdogan government’s broader attack on the rights to freedom of expression and association. Weaponizing the rhetoric of ‘family values’ to pursue discrimination, stigma, and state repression puts everyone at risk.”

If you would like to support and help the Turkish Queer Community here is a full list of
of LGBTQA+ Groups. https://www.equaldex.com/organizations/turkey

QUEERGURU

LGBTQ+ communities around the world should fear Turkey intensifying clampdown

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