Petition to Ensure Pride Parade be Held in Safety

Click to read the article in Kurdish / Turkish

Petition has been launched in order for the 14th LGBTI Pride Parade on June 26 to be held in safety.

The traditional İstanbul LGBTI+ Pride Week celebrates its 24th anniversary this year. The Pride Week activities to be held with the theme “We are being organized” will be held in various venues free of charge in Taksim and its around between June 20-26, 2016.

The Pride Week held with the participation of tens of thousands over 12 years was exposed to police attack last year for the first time in its history.

Several groups made call for attack and threatened the Pride Parade via press statements.

18 LGBTI+ groups from 17 cities will attend the activities to be held within the scope of the Pride Week in İstanbul.

Alperen Group threatened

The ultra-nationalist Alperen Group held a press statement in Üsküdar district of İstanbul at 10:30 p.m. yesterday (June 14). İstanbul Provincial President, Kürşat Mican said should the state not halt the parade, they as “representatives of deep nation” will prevent the parade.

The statement included phrases like, “Our reaction will be harsh and clear”, “We are warning”.

Attack call on Facebook

The group called “Muslim Anatolian Youth” had created an event on Facebook with the title “We won’t let dishonourable perverts march”. The page also included expressions such as “On the 19th transvestites will march and on the 26th all LGBTI perverts will march”.

While LGBTI+ activists were getting prepared to take action against Facebook Turkey, the event in question was removed.

Pride Week Committee had declared that they would press charges against the Muslim Anatolian Youth.

Vice PM’s response on Pride Parade: We can’t know

Vice Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli in the previous days had spoken as follows in response to the question of a journalist as to the Pride Parade:

“Of course there are some criteria for such permissions to be granted. I am speaking from the point of authorities who will exercise power. It will be permitted if it is fine with the authorities. We can’t know it but necessary security measures will be taken if it is permitted”. (ÇT/TK)