Dozens of people have been detained, and over 160 are under investigation in Turkey as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s regime launches a crackdown on gay rights and HIV support groups. The campaign began in recent weeks, with Turkish authorities raiding gay bars, organizations and private homes.
The Associated Press reports:
On Sunday, Turkish authorities cracked down on multiple LGBTQ+ groups and individuals, detaining dozens of members, breaking into association offices and raiding popular hangouts. The organizations’ websites were also blocked.
The crackdown aimed to “protect children, the institution of the family, and public order,” Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said. He said the operation, dubbed “My Family is Safe,” targeted 162 suspects, nine associations and 13 businesses. (…)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party, which has roots in Turkey’s Islamic movement, has been increasingly vocal against LGBTQ+ groups in a bid to consolidate the more conservative elements of its base. In 2015, it banned Istanbul Pride, which had tens of thousands of attendees in previous years. Since then, authorities have violently dispersed any attempted gatherings for Pride.
The clampdown continued on Tuesday as police arrested protesters. “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 recent detentions targeting LGBTQ+ groups,” Reuters reported, quoting eyewitnesses. “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.”
This is not the first time Muslim-majority Turkey is at loggerheads with the gay community. In 2025, gay and Muslim activists clashed with each other on board the Turkish-sponsored Gaza flotilla. In July, Turkey blocked a U.S. cruise ship carrying 2,000 gay passengers, citing Muslim “moral values.”
The gullible EU, which has been considering Turkey’s membership bid, voiced “concern” over the crackdown, the French newspaper Le Monde reported on Monday:
The EU expressed concern on Monday, September 14, about police raids targeting Turkey’s LGBTQ+ community in which at least 60 people were arrested, urging Ankara to ensure respect for human rights.
As a candidate to join the European Union, Turkey “should promote and ensure respect for the human rights and dignity of all individuals, irrespective of their gender identity or sexual orientation,” [EU Commission spokesman Christian] Wigand said. “Stigmatization and discrimination are contrary to the values of the Union.”
Throughout his 23-year rule, Erdogan has been driving Turkey toward the Sharia rule that actively suppresses gays, atheists, and political dissidents. Erdogan’s Turkey, a NATO member and a prospective European Union member state, sees Europe and the West as a civilizational adversary. President Erdogan openly dreams of supplanting a nominally Christian Europe with a fervently Islamic one. “I am calling out to my citizens, my brothers and sisters in Europe,” he said at a 2017 rally. “Have not just three but five children.”
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