Dozens of people have been detained across Türkiye in a major police operation targeting LGBT organisations and activists, prompting fresh concern over human rights and the increasingly restrictive climate for civil society in the country.
At least 47 people were detained in coordinated raids over the weekend, according to Turkish prosecutors, while LGBT rights organisation Kaos GL said at least 50 activists had been taken into custody, including more than ten people detained during raids on their homes.
Operations took place across several provinces, with offices belonging to LGBT and HIV-support organisations among those targeted. Websites and social media accounts linked to LGBT organisations and campaigners were also blocked.
Türkiye’s Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said the wider investigation covers 162 suspects, nine associations and 13 businesses across 15 provinces.
Prosecutors say the investigations concern allegations including prostitution, obscenity and other criminal offences. Authorities said drugs, digital equipment, smuggled alcohol and a firearm were among items seized during some of the raids, and have also alleged that children and young people were being improperly influenced over sexual orientation and gender identity.
The government says the action forms part of its efforts to “protect children, the institution of the family and public order”, linked to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s wider “Decade of Family and Population” programme.
Human rights organisations, however, have condemned the scale and nature of the operation. Türkiye’s Human Rights Association described it as an attempt to target LGBT people and independent civil society under the guise of protecting families, while European Parliament Türkiye rapporteur Nacho Sánchez Amor called the arrests a “shocking escalation” and warned of violations of fundamental rights.
Homosexuality is not illegal in Türkiye, but LGBT organisations have faced mounting restrictions in recent years. Istanbul Pride has effectively been banned since 2015, while ILGA-Europe has highlighted increasing pressure on LGBT campaigners, organisations and public events. Earlier this year, a coalition of rights groups warned of a “sustained deterioration” in freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly affecting LGBT people in particular.
The contrast with Britain is considerable. Under the UK’s Equality Act 2010, sexual orientation and gender reassignment are protected characteristics, with legal safeguards against discrimination in areas including employment, education and public services.
The raids also come against a wider backdrop of concern over democratic freedoms in Türkiye. Opposition politicians have faced an expanding series of prosecutions in recent years. Five mayors from the opposition CHP were recently convicted on corruption charges in cases their supporters say were politically motivated, while Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu — widely regarded as President Erdoğan’s most significant political rival — has been imprisoned since March 2025 while facing multiple criminal cases. The Turkish government rejects accusations of political interference and insists the judiciary operates independently.
Taken together, the widening legal pressure on political opponents, civil society groups and now LGBT organisations is likely to fuel further concern internationally about the direction of democracy, equality and fundamental freedoms in Türkiye.
Main picture, top, of a man being detained after Turkish police blocked an LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) Pride Parade in Taksim, Istanbul, Turkiye, on 18th June, 2023. Photo © Tolga Uluturk/ZUMA Press Wire
