More anti-LGBTI+ rallies to take place across Türkiye

Photo: Evrensel

Anti-LGBTI+ rallies that have been organized in various parts of the country since mid-September will reportedly continue in the coming weeks.

The new rallies will take place in the mostly Kurdish-populated cities in the country's east and southeast — Antep, Batman, Mardin, Bitlis, Van and Diyarbakır — daily Evrensel reported. A rally will also be held in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri.

The first such rally was held in İstanbul's Fatih district on September 18, with the attendance of hundreds of people. It was followed by events in several cities.

Support from the government

The government has openly supported the rallies, with an MP and politicians from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) attending the gathering in the northeastern Trabzon city on November 5.

President and AKP Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also announced support for the rallies under the theme of "protecting the family."

"Our citizens expressed their rightful demands with marches. These will become widespread," he said during a joint live broadcast on the pro-government A Haber TV and its sister channels. "It's not anyone's place to make the family structure of this nation degenerate. We'll protect our family structure from all kinds of perversion, marginal movements and corruption."

The rallies coincide with the AKP's preparations to propose a Constitutional amendment to protect the family, as well as to secure women's right to wear a headscarf in the public sector.

While the government officials have not disclosed details of the proposal, they have mentioned it together with anti-LGBTI+ remarks.

Increasing discrimination

The Social Policy, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Studies Association (SPoD) said that there was an increase in the applications it received regarding discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender since the start of the rallies.

Such applications increased by 46 percent in a month and 240 percent compared to the same period last year, it said.

Senior government officials in Türkiye have increasingly been vocal against LGBTI+ rights over the past few years.

Türkiye has been the second-worst country in ILGA Europe's Rainbow Index for the last four years. (VK)