Turkish Police Detain Dozens in Raids Targeting LGBTQI+ Groups

Turkish authorities have detained 26 people since Friday in a wave of police raids targeting LGBTQI+ organizations, with offices of six allied associations also searched, according to Reuters.

The Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office said operations were carried out across 12 provinces against 38 suspects, with authorities seizing drugs, digital equipment, smuggled alcohol and a firearm. The allegations involved homosexual prostitution and obscenity.

Ankara-based gay rights group Kaos GL disputed the official count, alleging that around 50 activists had been detained — a higher figure than the chief prosecutor’s office reported — including more than 10 people taken from their homes in police raids, Reuters said.

Authorities also blocked access to dozens of websites and social media accounts linked to LGBTI+ organizations, activists and rights advocates, groups that have faced government pressure in the past.

The Turkish Human Rights Association criticized the operation on X, saying: “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.”

Part of a Wider Pattern

The crackdown follows other recent episodes involving LGBTQI+ communities in Turkey. In June, police intervened at the Izmir Pride Committee’s Pride March in the Alsancak district, detaining at least 36 people after using force against participants.

In July, Turkey and Egypt both moved to bar a Virgin Voyages cruise ship, the Scarlet Lady, carrying roughly 2,000 gay passengers, from entering their waters. The 10-day voyage from Athens to Venice had been scheduled to stop in Istanbul among other Mediterranean destinations. Authorities in Turkey published a statement online at the time saying the cruise had been chartered “by groups known for behaviours that do not align with the structure of our society and our moral values,” adding, “We don’t allow this madness.”

The cruise had been promoted in a May Instagram post by Atlantis as “an epic all-gay voyage from Athens to Venice to the Mediterranean’s most iconic destinations — Mykonos, Santorini, Istanbul, Dubrovnik, and more.”