Turkey crackdown on LGBTIQ+ rights draws international condemnation

More than 450 civil society organizations from 65 countries have issued a joint call for Turkey to end a crackdown on LGBTIQ+ organizations, activists, and human rights defenders. The international appeal, titled “Stop the Criminalisation of the LGBTI+ Movement in Turkey,” warns that lawful activities such as advocacy, organizing, publishing, and fundraising are being recast as criminal activity through the use of organized-crime provisions and broad concepts like “morality” and “obscenity.”

The crackdown, which intensified in mid-September, involved sweeping restrictions on digital platforms and police raids on the offices and homes of several LGBTIQ+ and HIV-related organizations. As of late September, reports indicate at least 116 people have been detained, including dozens of human rights defenders, with many being remanded in pre-trial detention.

Signatories to the statement include organizations such as CIVICUS, PEN Norway, the World Organisation Against Torture, and the Association for Women’s Rights in Development. The groups demand the immediate release of those detained for exercising fundamental rights and urge authorities to cease police violence and digital restrictions to ensure LGBTIQ+ groups can operate safely.