Dozens arrested in major anti-LGBTQ raids in Turkey

Istanbul (AFP/AP) - Turkish police has swooped on gay bars and the homes of LGBTQ activists, arresting at least 60 people in raids authorities said were aimed at boosting traditional family values, officials and activists said. Simultaneous police raids beginning at 1 am on Sunday took place in the major cities of Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Aydin and Mersin.

Turkey's LGBTQ community has frequently been targeted by the government, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashing it as a "deviant movement" of "perverts" responsible for the falling birth rate. Sunday's raid came a day after the accounts of more than a dozen Turkish LGBTQ organisations were blocked on X at the request of the authorities, according to a watchdog.

Government promotes "Decade of the Family"

"As part of the 'My Family is Safe' operations... carried out in collaboration with our police and gendarmerie forces, legal proceedings have been initiated against 162 suspects, 9 organisations and 13 companies in ... a total of 15 provinces," Justice Minister Akin Gurlek posted on X. Many were around Istanbul and Ankara. Gurlek said the raids were part of the "Decade of the Family" proclaimed by Erdogan, aimed at "protecting our children, the institution of the family and social order".

According to prosecutors in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir, quoted by the state news agency Anadolu, at least 63 people were detained.

LGBTQ and women's rights activists form one of the main centres of resistance to the Islamic-conservative government in power since 2002.

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. Also targeted was a men's hammam reputed to be a venue for prostitution.

LGBTQ rights organisation Kaos GL, whose offices were searched and whose leaders were taken into custody, earlier stated that "nearly 50 defenders of the rights of LGBTQ people (...) have been taken into custody or are subject to legal proceedings involving interrogations or detentions" across the country. According to the group, judicial authorities in Ankara had alleged that Kaos GL made "posts containing obscenity" on its website and social media channels and that the content was accessible to children.

EU rapporteur sees "a shocking escalation in the repression"

The European Union parliament's rapporteur on Turkey condemned the arrests as "a shocking escalation in the repression". "This imposition of a moral agenda is a blatant violation of fundamental rights & Turkey's international commitments taking the country down a dark path," Nacho Sanchez Amor, a Social Democrat from Spain, wrote on X. Turkey's efforts to join the EU have been frozen in recent years, but it remains a key trade and political partner.

"Existence cannot be banned or restricted. LGBTI+ rights are human rights!" Ozgul Saki, an MP from the pro-Kurdish left-wing DEM party in Istanbul, said on X.

This summer, an LGBTQ+ cruise ship that tours the Mediterranean and has docked in Turkey multiple times in the past was refused permission to dock there. The Ottoman Empire, predecessor to the modern republic of Turkey, decriminalized homosexuality in 1858, however there is still significant social discrimination.