Turkey's crackdown on LGBTQ+ activists
Turkish authorities detained around 47-50 people over a weekend in raids across roughly a dozen provinces targeting gay bars, LGBTQ+ activists' homes and the offices of rights group Kaos GL, as part of a government campaign called 'My Family is Safe' that officials tie to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's broader push to reverse falling birth rates. Prosecutors in Istanbul said they detained 26 people and seized drugs, digital equipment, smuggled alcohol and a firearm, while a separate Ankara investigation into Kaos GL led to 21 more detentions; Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said legal proceedings had been opened against more than 160 people, nine associations and 13 businesses across 15 provinces, with prosecutors alleging children were being improperly exposed to material about sexual orientation and gender identity. Kaos GL said authorities also blocked access to dozens of LGBTQ+-linked websites and social media accounts, and rights groups -- including the Turkish Human Rights Association and Council of Europe rights commissioner Michael O'Flaherty -- condemned the crackdown as politically motivated repression rather than genuine family-values policy. Subsequent protests outside an Istanbul courthouse, where demonstrators demanded the detainees' release, led to further arrests.
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