Turkey detains dozens after sweeping raids targeting LGBTQ+ groups

Murad Sezer/Reuters/File

Turkish authorities have detained at least 47 people ​following a series of raids on the offices of LGBTQ+ associations in a ‌probe into prostitution and obscenity, prosecutors said on Sunday.

The crackdown is part of a campaign that the government says is aimed at protecting family values.

The Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office said operations were carried out over the weekend ​across 12 provinces against 38 suspects, and 26 of them were detained with ​authorities seizing drugs, digital equipment, smuggled alcohol and a firearm.

In a separate statement, ⁠the Ankara chief prosecutor’s office said a further 21 people had been detained as ​part of an investigation into the LGBTQ+ association Kaos GL and five people were still being ​sought.

Kaos GL said at least 50 activists had been detained, including more than 10 who were taken in police raids on their homes.

In addition, it said authorities blocked access to dozens of websites and social ​media accounts linked to LGBTQ+ organisations, activists and rights advocates.

Dubbed “My Family is Safe”, the government’s ​crackdown comes as President Tayyip Erdogan promotes a “Decade of Family and Population”, an initiative designed to tackle ‌falling birth ⁠rates and an ageing demographic.

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Rights groups have accused the Turkish government of increasingly targeting the LGBTQ+ community in recent years through a hardening of rhetoric and restrictions.

“The real name of this operation is not ‘My Family is Safe’; it is state-led discrimination, politics of fear and the ​dismantling of civil society,” ​the Turkish Human ⁠Rights Association said on X.

Nacho Sanchez Amor, the European Parliament’s Turkey rapporteur, said the sweeping wave of arrests was “a shocking escalation” of repression.

“This ​imposition of a moral agenda is a blatant violation of fundamental ​rights and ⁠Turkey’s international commitments taking the country down a dark path,” Amor said in a post on X.

Prosecutors said there was evidence that children and underage youths were being inappropriately influenced on issues ⁠relating to ​sexual orientation and gender identity.

Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said ​investigations coordinated by prosecutors in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Aydin and Mersin involved judicial proceedings against 162 suspects, nine associations ​and 13 businesses across 15 provinces.

穆拉德·塞泽/路透社/档案照片

土耳其检察官周日表示，土耳其当局在对LGBTQ+协会办公室进行一系列突击搜查后，至少拘留了47人，此次搜查旨在调查卖淫和淫秽活动。

政府称，此次打击行动是旨在保护家庭价值观的运动的一部分。

伊斯坦布尔首席检察官办公室表示，周末期间，警方在12个省份对38名嫌疑人展开行动，其中26人被拘留，当局缴获了毒品、电子设备、走私酒类和一支枪支。

安卡拉首席检察官办公室在另一份声明中表示，作为对 LGBTQ+ 协会 Kaos GL 调查的一部分，另有 21 人被拘留，还有 5 人仍在逃。

Kaos GL 表示，至少有 50 名活动人士被拘留，其中包括 10 多名在警方突袭其住所时被带走的活动人士。

此外，报告称，当局封锁了与 LGBTQ+ 组织、活动人士和权利倡导者有关的数十个网站和社交媒体账户。

政府的这项名为“我的家庭很安全”的镇压行动正值总统雷杰普·塔伊普·埃尔多安推行“家庭与人口十年”之际，该倡议旨在解决出生率下降和人口老龄化问题。

乌特库·乌克拉克/阿纳多卢/盖蒂图片社

人权组织指责土耳其政府近年来通过强硬的言辞和限制措施，日益针对 LGBTQ+ 群体。

“这项行动的真正名称不是‘我的家人很安全’；它是国家主导的歧视、恐惧政治和对公民社会的瓦解，”土耳其人权协会在X上表示。

欧洲议会土耳其问题报告员纳乔·桑切斯·阿莫尔表示，这波大规模逮捕行动是镇压的“令人震惊的升级”。

“这种强加道德议程是对基本权利和土耳其国际承诺的公然侵犯，将国家引向一条黑暗的道路，”阿莫尔在 X 上发帖说。

检察官表示，有证据表明，儿童和未成年青少年在性取向和性别认同问题上受到了不当影响。

司法部长阿金·古尔莱克表示，伊斯坦布尔、安卡拉、伊兹密尔、艾登和梅尔辛的检察官协调进行的调查涉及对15个省份的162名嫌疑人、9个协会和13家企业的司法程序。