Turkey Detains Dozens in Anti-LGBTQ Raids on Bars and Activists
Turkish police detained at least 63 people on Sunday in coordinated raids on gay bars, the homes of LGBTQ activists and an LGBTQ rights organization, officials and activists said. Authorities linked the crackdown to protecting traditional family values.
Coordinated operations
The operations, carried out in Istanbul, Ankara and other provinces, came a day after the accounts of more than a dozen Turkish LGBTQ organizations were blocked on X at the request of authorities, according to a watchdog. It was the latest sign of mounting pressure on Turkey's LGBTQ community and its allies.
Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said on X that legal proceedings had been launched against 162 suspects, nine organizations and 13 companies across 15 provinces as part of what he called the 'My Family is Safe' operations, conducted with police and gendarmerie forces. Many of the targets were around Istanbul and Ankara.
Gurlek tied the raids to the 'Decade of the Family' proclaimed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying they were meant to protect children, the institution of the family and social order.
Prosecutors in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir, quoted by the state news agency Anadolu, said at least 63 people had been detained.
In Istanbul, police raided several gay bars and a nightclub regarded as a haven for the LGBTQ community, according to video footage from pro-government media. A men's hammam reputed to be a venue for prostitution was also targeted.
LGBTQ rights organization Kaos GL said its offices were searched and its leaders were taken into custody. The group said nearly 50 defenders of LGBTQ people's rights had been taken into custody or were facing legal proceedings involving interrogations or detentions across the country.
According to Kaos GL, judicial authorities in Ankara alleged that the group had made posts containing obscenity on its website and social media channels and that the content was accessible to children.
Political fallout
Turkey's LGBTQ community has frequently been targeted by the government. Erdogan has lashed out at what he calls a 'deviant movement' of 'perverts' responsible for the falling birth rate. LGBTQ and women's rights activists form one of the main centers of resistance to the Islamic-conservative government in power since 2002.
While same-sex relations are not a criminal offense in Turkey, homophobia is widespread. The arrests quickly drew condemnation abroad and from opposition politicians at home.
Nacho Sanchez Amor, the European Parliament's rapporteur on Turkey, called the detentions a 'shocking escalation in the repression' in Turkey. Turkey's efforts to join the EU have been frozen in recent years, but it remains a key trade and political partner.
Sanchez Amor wrote on X that the imposition of a moral agenda was a blatant violation of fundamental rights and Turkey's international commitments, taking the country down a dark path.
Ozgul Saki, an MP from the pro-Kurdish, left-wing DEM party in Istanbul, said on X: 'Existence cannot be banned or restricted. LGBTI+ rights are human rights!'
The raids deepen concerns among rights groups that Turkey's already narrow space for LGBTQ organizing and dissent is shrinking further. They are also likely to strain Ankara's ties with European institutions that have repeatedly criticized its human rights record. For many activists, the crackdown is less about family policy than about policing visibility and political opposition.