The Turkish police arrested at least dozens of people who tried to participate in the forbidden Pride-Mars in Istanbul on Sunday. According to Reuters news agency, which is based on Kezban Konukcu of the Pro-Kurdish Party DEM, it is thirty detestants. Yildiz Tar of the Turkish LGBTI organization Kaos GL speaks on X from 54 detainees, including six lawyers. According to him, 47 people would be stuck, four of whom are lawyers.
Pride marches in the Turkish capital have been prohibited since 2015. A few years ago, the highest spiritual leader of Turkey, Imam Ali Erbas, claimed that homosexuality is an “evil” that causes HIV. That is not correct: although men and transgender people who have sex with men run a greater chance of HIV, everyone can get the disease – regardless of gender or sexual orientation. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he agreed with Erbas.
In 2021, Turkey stepped out of the Istanbul Convention, which had to combat violence against women and girls, because according to the Dogan government it was used to “normalize homosexuality.” At the beginning of this year, President LGBTI people blamed the falling birth rate in his country.
This weekend the forbidden Pride-Mars in Budapest also took place, where, according to Hungarian media, hundreds of thousands of people participated, a record rise. They run the risk of a fine of approximately 500 euros converted, because Hungarian authorities state that exposure to homosexuality can harm minors.
Read also
Record rise during the forbidden Pride in Budapest. ‘I’m so done with Orbán’s bullshit about gays’