Turkish authorities have released more than 100 protesters who were detained during demonstrations against a significant crackdown on the LGBTQ community. The detentions occurred on Tuesday, following a weekend of heightened police activity aimed at suppressing LGBTQ rights. Legal rights activists and an AFP journalist confirmed the release late Wednesday, highlighting ongoing tensions surrounding LGBTQ issues in Turkey.
Early on Sunday, Turkish police began raiding gay bars, nightclubs and the homes of activists and members of the LGBTQ community under a warrant naming 162 individuals, nine organisations and 13 companies in 15 provinces including Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.
By Wednesday evening, courts in several cities had remanded in custody 81 of those rounded up on Sunday, according to Kaos GL, a leading LGBTQ rights group that was also targeted in Sunday’s raids. Another 33 people appeared in court in Istanbul on Wednesday, with a judge jailing 20 of them, Kaos GL said, indicating the other 13 were granted conditional release. On Tuesday evening, an Ankara court had jailed 13 people, including seven from Kaos GL, five transgender people and a journalist.
His justice minister defended the raids as a bid to protect “children and the institution of the family”. Turkey’s LGBTQ community has faced increasing pressure since the government declared 2026 to be the start of its “Decade of the Family”.
