Turkey Intensifies Crackdown on LGBTQ+ Organizations with Web Bans and Raids
Turkish courts ordered the blocking of numerous LGBTQ+ websites and social media accounts, while police raids in Istanbul resulted in over a dozen arrests of activists.
Turkish authorities intensified their crackdown on LGBTQ+ organizations, activists, and civil society groups over the weekend after an Istanbul court ordered the blocking of numerous websites and social media accounts. Concurrently, police raided NGO offices, private homes, and venues in Istanbul overnight, arresting over a dozen activists.
According to reports in Turkey, the 7th Istanbul Criminal Judgeship of Peace ordered the blocking of websites belonging to Kaos GL, a prominent and longstanding LGBTQ+ organization in the country, alongside other groups such as 17 Mayıs, ÜniKuir, Pembe Hayat, SPoD, Genç LGBTİ+, Lambdaistanbul, and Muamma LGBTİ+. The ruling also encompasses accounts belonging to activists, journalists, women's organizations, and student groups. Several X accounts have already been rendered inaccessible within Turkey, while certain restrictions on Instagram are pending implementation.
Simultaneously, police raided the offices of Kaos GL and the residences of its executive and audit board members. Local reports indicate that more than ten activists were detained as part of an ongoing investigation concerning suspected "dissemination of obscenity" and violations of the Associations Law. Defense attorneys have not yet disclosed full details regarding the evidence compiled against the detainees.
Crackdown on Nightlife and Venues
Raids were also conducted across Istanbul during the same hours, focusing primarily on the Beyoğlu and Şişli districts. Police and gendarmerie forces searched several nightclubs, massage parlors, and businesses in the Taksim, Cihangir, and Istiklal Street areas. According to reports, some of these operations are linked to the same investigative case.
These measures follow months of expanding restrictions on LGBTQ+ organizations in Turkey. Throughout the summer, over one hundred accounts belonging to organizations, activists, and journalists were blocked, and courts similarly ordered the blocking of dating applications and community websites. In July, at least 93 accounts and pages linked to LGBTQ+ groups, platforms, feminist collectives, and media outlets were restricted under a separate ruling. The Istanbul Pride parade has been banned almost annually since 2015, although homosexuality itself is not a criminal offense in Turkey.
Human Rights Concerns
Human rights organizations argue that this represents a systematic effort to curtail the presence of LGBTQ+ individuals in public and digital spheres. Conversely, authorities have defended some of the blockages by citing the necessity to protect "national security and public order." Although the Constitutional Court of Turkey has previously ruled that certain online surveillance powers utilized by police are unconstitutional, freedom of speech advocates maintain that these provisions continue to serve as the legal basis for blocking orders. The escalation is expected to draw sharp criticism from international human rights bodies.
