Turkish authorities launch anti-LGBTQ raids, detaining dozens

Turkish police raid LGBTQ groups across major cities, detaining at least 63 in a major crackdown.

Al Jazeera2026-09-14 03:47查看原文 ↗

Turkish police raid LGBTQ groups across major cities, arresting at least 60 in a major crackdown.

Turkish police stand outside a nightclub during a raid as part of the "My Family is Safe" operation in Istanbul on September 13, 2026 [AFP]

Turkish police have detained dozens of people after conducting nationwide raids targeting LGBTQ organisations.

Police swooped on gay bars, offices and homes of activists in major cities including Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and Mersin on Sunday, escalating Turkiye’s decade-long hostility towards LGBTQ groups.

State news agency Anadolu quoted prosecutors in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir as saying that at least 63 people were detained, the AFP news agency reported.

Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said in a social media post on Sunday that prosecutors had launched an investigation into 162 suspects, nine associations and 13 businesses to “protect children, the institution of the family, and public order”.

Turkish authorities targeted current and former members of multiple LGBTQ rights and HIV awareness groups. The organisations’ websites were blocked days before the police raids.

Gurlek said the “My Family is Safe” operations on Sunday aligned with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 10-year “Decade of Family and Population” executive order, which aims to combat Turkiye’s falling birthrate.

“As per the duty to protect families and children given to the state by the constitution, no criminal organization, abuse network or illegal activity which targets children, youths or families will be tolerated!” Gurlek wrote on X.

LGBTQ rights organisation Kaos GL, whose offices were searched and activists taken into custody, said 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”.

Judicial authorities in Turkiye’s capital, Ankara, accused Kaos GL of publishing “posts containing obscenity” online and said that the content was accessible to children, according to the rights group.

Pro-LGBTQ demonstrators walk down a street in Istanbul, Turkiye, on June 30, 2019, after authorities banned the Pride March for the fifth year running [File: Getty Images]

Rights activists accused the Turkish government of hardening its rhetoric and restrictions against Turkiye’s LGBTQ community in recent years.

“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.

The European Parliament’s rapporteur on Turkiye, Nacho Sanchez Amor, condemned the detentions as “a shocking escalation in the repression” in the country.

The governing AK Party banned Istanbul Pride in 2015. Any attempted gatherings since then have been violently dispersed by authorities.

土耳其警方突袭各大城市的 LGBTQ 群体，在一次大规模镇压行动中逮捕了至少 60 人。

2026年9月13日，土耳其警方在伊斯坦布尔开展“我的家人很安全”行动，突袭一家夜总会时站在外面。[法新社]

土耳其警方在全国范围内开展针对LGBTQ组织的突袭行动后，拘留了数十人。

周日，警方突袭了伊斯坦布尔、安卡拉、伊兹密尔和梅尔辛等主要城市的同性恋酒吧、办公室和活动人士的住所，加剧了土耳其长达十年的对 LGBTQ 群体的敌意。

据法新社报道，土耳其国家通讯社阿纳多卢通讯社援引安卡拉、伊斯坦布尔和伊兹密尔检察官的话称，至少有 63 人被拘留。

司法部长阿金·古尔莱克周日在社交媒体上发帖称，检察官已对 162 名嫌疑人、9 个协会和 13 家企业展开调查，以“保护儿童、家庭制度和公共秩序”。

土耳其当局将目标对准了多个LGBTQ权益和艾滋病防治组织的现任和前任成员。这些组织的网站在警方突袭行动前几天就被封锁了。

古尔莱克表示，周日的“我的家庭很安全”行动与总统雷杰普·塔伊普·埃尔多安为期十年的“家庭和人口十年”行政命令相一致，该命令旨在应对土耳其不断下降的出生率。

“根据宪法赋予国家的保护家庭和儿童的义务，任何针对儿童、青少年或家庭的犯罪组织、虐待网络或非法活动都将不被容忍！”古尔莱克在X上写道。

LGBTQ 权益组织 Kaos GL 的办公室遭到搜查，活动人士被拘留。该组织表示，“近 50 名 LGBTQ 人群权利捍卫者……已被拘留或面临涉及审讯或拘留的法律程序”。

据人权组织称，土耳其首都安卡拉的司法当局指控 Kaos GL 在网上发布“含有淫秽内容的帖子”，并表示儿童可以访问这些内容。