LGBTI+ groups condemn mass detentions in Ankara ahead of NATO summit

LGBTI+ organizations issued a joint statement today condemning the detention of 209 people in police raids in Ankara ahead of the NATO summit scheduled for July 7-8. The detainees include Yıldız Tar, the editor-in-chief of Kaos GL, an LGBTI-focused media outlet.

The groups demanded the immediate release of the detainees, which include LGBTI+, women, and feminist rights defenders, as well as lawyers, academics, labor union representatives, and human rights activists.

In its official statement, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office did not directly link the operation to the upcoming NATO summit. It claimed the suspects were alleged members of ISIS and various Marxist armed organizations.

A 24-hour restriction on consulting lawyers expired today, and the detainees have begun giving their statements to authorities.

"Being a journalist, lawyer, or academic is not a crime. LGBTI+ rights advocacy is not a crime," the joint statement said, adding that the operation was an attempt at criminalization:

Among those detained are people who had previously been publicly targeted, as well as many others of different ages, professions, and areas of struggle who are not under investigation or facing any charges. This situation demonstrates that the operations are not limited to individuals, but aim to criminalize the LGBTI+ movement, the feminist struggle, revolutionary youth movements, the labor movement, human rights defenders, and spaces for democratic organization. It criminalizes the LGBTI+ movement, the feminist struggle, revolutionary youth movements, the labor movement, the human rights movement, and spaces for democratic organization.

Freedom of association in Turkey has long been subject to attempts to suppress it through bans, closure cases, investigations, administrative pressures, and targeting. House raids are an attempt by a policy that views human rights defenders and democratic struggles as a ‘security threat’ to intensify this suppression.

Human rights defenders are not a security threat. Freedom of association cannot be targeted under this pretext.

Yıldız Tar’s arrest during a house raid just one day before the third hearing of their trial on Jun 24 is a clear intervention directed at LGBTI+ journalism, human rights advocacy, freedom of association, and the collective memory of the LGBTI+ movement. What is being targeted through Yıldız Tar is the right of LGBTI+s to be heard, to report the news, to organize, and to show solidarity.

Yıldız Tar is not alone. LGBTI+ journalism cannot be silenced.

As LGBTI+ organizations, we see that these operations, carried out under the guise of NATO security, are fueling a climate of fear and are the result of a policy that demonizes social opposition and the struggle for rights. Journalists, LGBTI+ rights advocates, feminists, lawyers, academics, labor organizations, revolutionary youth, and human rights defenders have the right to freedom of expression.

It is not the defense of rights that poses a threat to Turkish democracy, but rather security-oriented policies that suspend rights at will.

For these reasons, the immediate release of Yıldız Tar and everyone currently in detention, as well as the lifting of the restrictions on attorney visits and the pretrial detention order in the case, are matters of urgency.

LGBTQ+ rights advocacy, organizing, and journalism are not crimes!

We know our rights, and we will not give up our lives or our struggle.

(TY/VK)