A Turkish court has ordered the pretrial detention of 16 people ahead of trial in the western Turkish province of Izmir, as part of a government campaign involving numerous raids and arrests targeting bars and the homes of LGBTQ+ activists, carried out in the name of protecting the "traditional family," the prosecutor's office announced today.
The Izmir Chief Public Prosecutor's Office said 18 people were arrested as part of operations named "My Family Is Safe," with 16 of them remanded in custody and the other two placed under judicial supervision.
Scale of the campaign
Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç* said yesterday that the investigations, coordinated by prosecutors in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Aydın and Mersin, are targeting 162 suspects, nine associations and 13 businesses across 15 provinces.
Government's justification
According to ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ, the government says the operation aims to protect children and family values. Authorities arrested 26 people in Istanbul and 21 in Ankara over the weekend, and carried out raids on the offices of several LGBTQ+ associations.
Rights groups condemn the crackdown
Human rights organisations accuse the government of increasingly targeting the LGBTQ+ community through rhetoric, restrictions and legal measures. The Turkish Human Rights Association described the operation as "state-directed discrimination, a politics of fear, and the dismantling of civil society."
Nacho Sánchez Amor, the European Parliament's standing rapporteur on Turkey, described the arrests as a "shocking escalation" of the crackdown.
Prosecutors have said the investigations concern alleged offences including prostitution and offending public morals, and that children and minors are being "inappropriately affected" on matters relating to sexual orientation and gender identity.
Wider political context
The operation comes as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan promotes the "Decade of Family and Population" campaign, aimed at addressing the country's declining birth rate and ageing population.
Homosexuality is not a criminal offence in Turkey, but homophobia is widespread, including at the top levels of the state; President Erdoğan has repeatedly described LGBTQ+ people as "deviant" and has blamed them for the fall in birth rates.
Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
