Turkish authorities detain at least 150 at protest over LGBTQ+ arrests

Dilara Senkaya/Reuters

Turkish authorities detained at least 150 people on Tuesday after police intervened at a gathering outside Istanbul’s Caglayan courthouse, where demonstrators had planned to protest about r ecent detentions targeting LGBTQ+ groups , witnesses said.

The detentions marked the latest escalation in what rights groups and opposition figures have described as a widening campaign against the LGBTQ+ community, with authorities over the past week raiding association offices, blocking websites and jailing suspects across multiple provinces.

On Tuesday, a group had gathered to make a press statement, but police prevented them from doing so outside the courthouse.

Protesters chanted “Long live life in defiance of hate” as police moved in.

The protest came after sweeping raids targeting LGBTQ+ associations in several Turkish provinces under an operation dubbed “My Family is Safe,” which the government says is aimed at protecting children and family values.

Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O’Flaherty said on Tuesday he was concerned by the arrests, raids and online restrictions targeting LGBTQ+ civil society and human rights defenders.

He said references to “family values” or the “protection of children” could not in themselves justify human rights restrictions, and called for the release of anyone detained for human rights or civil society work.

A Turkish court on Monday jailed 16 people pending trial in the western province of Izmir as part of the operation, the local prosecutor’s office said.

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

Authorities detained at least 26 people in Istanbul and 21 in Ankara over the weekend and raided the offices of several LGBTQ+ associations.

Turkish authorities have also blocked access to websites and social media accounts belonging to various LGBTQ+ associations, individuals and independent media outlets, including the X account of Amnesty International’s Turkey branch.

迪拉拉·森卡亚/路透社

据目击者称，周二，土耳其警方介入伊斯坦布尔恰拉扬法院外的一次集会，并拘留了至少 150 人。示威者原计划在那里抗议最近针对 LGBTQ+ 群体的拘留行动。

此次拘留行动标志着人权组织和反对派人士所称的针对 LGBTQ+ 群体的行动不断升级的最新进展。过去一周，当局突袭了多个省份的协会办公室，封锁了相关网站，并将嫌疑人投入监狱。

周二，一群人聚集在一起准备发表新闻声明，但警方阻止了他们在法院外这样做。

警察介入时，抗议者高喊“生命万岁，无视仇恨”。

此次抗议活动是在土耳其多个省份开展名为“我的家庭很安全”的大规模突袭行动之后发生的，该行动旨在保护儿童和家庭价值观，针对的是LGBTQ+协会。

欧洲委员会人权事务专员迈克尔·奥弗莱厄蒂周二表示，他对针对 LGBTQ+ 公民社会和人权捍卫者的逮捕、突袭和网络限制感到担忧。

他表示，提及“家庭价值观”或“保护儿童”本身并不能成为限制人权的理由，并呼吁释放所有因人权或公民社会工作而被拘留的人。

土耳其西部伊兹密尔省一家法院周一将 16 人关押候审，作为此次行动的一部分，当地检察官办公室表示。

司法部长阿金·古尔莱克周日表示，由伊斯坦布尔、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15个省份的162名嫌疑人、9个协会和13家企业。

周末期间，当局在伊斯坦布尔拘留了至少 26 人，在安卡拉拘留了 21 人，并突击搜查了几个 LGBTQ+ 协会的办公室。

土耳其当局还封锁了属于各种 LGBTQ+ 协会、个人和独立媒体的网站和社交媒体帐户，包括国际特赦组织土耳其分部的 X 帐户。