Erdoğan's AKP poised to propose 'anti-LGBTI+' amendment to Constitution

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President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said that his party will propose an amendment to the Constitution in the coming days.

The proposed amendment will be about guaranteeing women's right to wear a headscarf and "institutionalize family values," the president said today (October) in a speech addressing clerics in Ankara, the capital.

"A wide variety of scandals raise our threshold of astonishment every day, showing the wounds inflicted by the materialist mentality in society. They feel inferior to the West and equally arrogant towards their own values ​​and nation, even if our mankurts [unthinking slaves in Turkic mythology] do not accept it, the facts are clear.

"If we don't take action now and take timely measures, it is highly likely that we will experience worse troubles in the future, may God forbid.

"I see the Constitutional amendment proposal, which we will submit to the discretion of our Assembly in the coming days, as an important step in this direction.

"With this proposal, we aim to protect the family institution, which is increasingly threatened by deviant currents, while providing constitutional guarantees for the headscarf."

Erdoğan brought up the idea of amending the Constitution in early October, in response to the main opposition Republican People's Party's (CHP) law proposal for safeguarding women's right to wear a headscarf.

CLICK - AKP to outbid opposition's 'headscarf bill' to propose anti-LGBTI+ amendment to Constitution 

He had suggested a Constitutional amendment that also includes provisions about "protecting the family" rather than a new law.

Since then, he has repeated his intentions multiple times

On October 22, he said a constitutional amendment is necessary not only for the freedom for wearing a headscarf but also to "strengthen our family institution constituted by the marriage of women with men," denying that there can be LGBTI+s in a strong family.

A recent EU Commission report states that Türkiye's anti-discrimination legislation does not meet European standards. The report indicates severe concerns about protecting the basic human rights of LGBTI+s.

There is neither legislation to combat hate speech nor regulations on hate crimes on sexual orientation and gender identity. Moreover, hate speech targeting LGBTI+ by elected and appointed state officials has increased. For instance, on September 18, a large anti-LGBTI+ rally was held in İstanbul. The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) published a video for the event on its website in the "public service announcements" category. (EMK/WM/VK)