Police prevented the 23rd İstanbul Pride March in the Ortaköy neighborhood of Beşiktaş district today, detaining at least 55 individuals, including four journalists and six lawyers. The march was planned as part of the 33rd İstanbul Pride Week under the slogan “Persistence in Life.”
Groups of people attempting to join the march were blocked by police before reaching the area, bianet has learned. Shortly after the event began, police encircled demonstrators and reporters with riot shields.
Officers forcibly detained several people there and also targeted rainbow flags, removing them from participants during the crackdown.
🏳️🌈 23. İstanbul Onur Yürüyüşü kapsamında Ortaköy sokaklarında bir araya gelen LGBTİ+'lara polis müdahale etti, çok sayıda kişi gözaltına alındı.
— bianet (@bianet_org) June 29, 2025
📹: bianet pic.twitter.com/dAyTIafetM
According to activists present at the scene, the number of police officers in the area exceeded the number of marchers. To track down suspected LGBTI+ activists who evaded detention, police performed random ID checks in the side streets of Ortaköy.
More than 40 demonstrators and journalists were detained during the event. Among the detained journalists were Nur Kaya, who was covering the events for bianet, Evrim Gündüz, bianet's social media editor, and Yusuf Çelik, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gelecek.
Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party MP Kezban Konukçu was also present at the scene, where police attempted to detain her.
Pride marches in İstanbul, once drawing large crowds, have been banned since 2015. In recent years, LGBTI+ activists in Turkey have tried to circumvent bans by organizing marches at unannounced locations. The previous week’s Trans Pride March was also held in the side streets of Acıbadem neighborhood of the Kadıköy district. (TY/VK)
