Turkish authorities have arrested 162 people in a nationwide crackdown targeting LGBTQ+ activists, organisations and businesses, according to officials and rights groups. Police carried out raids across 12 provinces over the weekend as part of the government’s “My Family is Safe” campaign, which authorities say is aimed at protecting family values.
The operation reportedly targeted gay bars, current and former members of prominent LGBTQ+ rights groups, and websites and social media accounts linked to activists and organisations. Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said proceedings had begun against 162 suspects, nine associations and 13 businesses over allegations including pornography and the production of obscene content.
The Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office said police detained 26 people and seized drugs, digital equipment, smuggled alcohol and a firearm during operations in the city. The Ankara chief prosecutor’s office said a further 21 people were arrested as part of an investigation involving LGBTQ+ rights organisation Kaos GL.
Kaos GL said at least 50 activists had been detained, including 10 people arrested during raids on their homes. The group also said authorities blocked access to dozens of websites and social media accounts linked to LGBTQ+ organisations and activists. Turkey’s Human Rights Association strongly criticised the operation, describing it as politically motivated.
“This is not a judicial investigation; it is a political operation aimed at forcing society into a monolithic family model and purging LGBTI+ and independent civil society under the guise of protecting the family and children,” the association said.
“To include unrelated charges such as ‘forming a criminal organization,’ ‘drugs,’ ‘prostitution’ and ‘obscenity’ serves not to reveal the truth but to incriminate the entire community.” The association also said in a separate statement: “The real name of this operation is not ‘My Family is Safe’; it is state-led discrimination, politics of fear and the dismantling of civil society.”
The crackdown forms part of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s broader “Decade of Family and Population” initiative, which is intended to address declining birth rates and promote traditional family structures. Nacho Sanchez Amor, the European Parliament’s rapporteur on Turkey, described the crackdown as a “shocking escalation” of repression.
“This imposition of a moral agenda is a blatant violation of fundamental rights and Turkey’s international commitments taking the country down a dark path,” he said. Prosecutors have alleged that children were being inappropriately influenced on issues relating to sexual orientation and gender identity.
Same-sex relations are legal in Turkey, although LGBTQ+ rights groups have repeatedly accused the government of discriminatory policies and repression. Erdogan has also previously used hostile language about LGBTQ+ people while linking them to Turkey’s falling birth rate. The allegations against those detained and the organisations targeted have not yet been proven in court.