LGBT rights in Turkey

Global Pride event in Istanbul, June 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/SEDAT SUNA

"We have obtained information that between 21.06.2022 (Tuesday) and 23.06.2022 (Thursday) gatherings, press releases, marches, distribution of leaflets, etc. are planned to be held within the scope of the 30th Istanbul LGBTI+ Pride Week," the governors' offices said in a statement.

Turkish police detained at least 46 people on June 26 in Istanbul who gathered in the city's central İstiklal Avenue for a Pride parade.

The statement from the local police headquarters noted that local authorities banned the planned LGBT march at Taksim Square and along İstiklal Avenue.

Two transgender sex workers have been accused of throwing a man out of a window in the southern Turkish province of Antalya.

Gay rights groups and activists pressed ahead with the Istanbul Pride parade on July 1 despite Turkish authorities banning the event for a fourth year in a row. Click through for the story in photos...

The Ankara Governor's Office has banned the movie screening event of a communist LGBT group which was to be held in the capital city on June 28, citing the ongoing state of emergency in the country as a reason for the ban.

As for rights activists generally in Turkey, these are troubled times for LGBT campaigners in the country. Amid official disapproval and annual tension around the Pride March at the end of June, banned for the past three years despite being permitted for over 10 years from 2003.

The Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity Association (Kaos GL) has published an annual report monitoring human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity, calling on the Turkish state to adopt anti-discriminatory measures to prevent hate crimes against LGBT individuals that remain largely unreported by media and security authorities. 

Last weekend, Istanbul hosted its 12th LGBTI Pride Parade. Thousands, not just members of the LGBTI community but also "straights" defending their rights, marched in the city's busiest street, Istiklal Avenue in Beyo?lu. Unfortunately, the colorful parade was cut short when the police began dispersing people with water cannons and batons.