LGBTI+ associations, activists, rights defenders and venues frequented by the queer community were targeted yesterday in operations dubbed as “My Family Is Safe” throughout several provinces accross Turkey.
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said legal action had been taken against 162 people, nine associations and 13 businesses. He linked the operations to the “2026-2035 Decade of Family and Population” and Presidential Circular No. 2026/4.
The investigations have involved allegations of “obscenity,” “prostitution,” “forming an organization for the purpose of committing crimes” and drug-related offenses. Funding received by LGBTI+ associations from international donors has also come under scrutiny.
Claims that children were being “steered” regarding sexual orientation and gender identity and that these issues were being “normalized” were also cited as grounds for the investigations.
Yıldız Tar, editor-in-chief of the news outlet of the Kaos GL Association, one of the organizations targeted in the operations, said the operations criminalized the very existence of LGBTI+s.
"This operation is clearly a declaration that the state considers LGBTI+s criminals simply for existing. There is no crime here, and since there is no crime, there are no criminals either. Being LGBTI+ is something we are born with, and you are being persecuted simply because of a characteristic you were born with. That is all this is about."
'Obscenity' accusations
Tar also rejected the allegation of “obscenity” in the investigations:
“They say ‘obscenity.’ What are the things they call obscene? Photos of LGBTI+s, their writings, news about them, two men kissing, two women kissing. Is that obscenity? How can that be obscene?
"What they are really saying here is, ‘When I hear LGBTI+, I think they are obscene.’ That is not the problem of LGBTI+s. It is the problem of a mindset that sees the existence of LGBTI+s as obscene.”
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Foreign funding
Tar objected in particular to the way funding received by LGBTI+ organizations from abroad was presented as grounds for suspicion in the investigation.
“All LGBTI+ associations in this country are registered organizations that operate legally and are audited by the Interior Ministry several times every year.
"Public institutions, ministries and foundations close to the government, such as TÜGVA, are also among the main beneficiaries of the European Union and United Nations funding being discussed. So does that make us criminals?”
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Tar added that media outlets close to the government had portrayed the associations’ financial transactions as though “a criminal structure had been uncovered,” stressing that the transactions disclosed were already reported to the state:
“All the information being presented is publicly available and has been reported to the state. What do those records show? Someone made a donation to an LGBTI+ association. Where is the crime in that? An employee of an LGBTI+ association received an advance and later repaid it. Where is the crime in that?
"The associations developed projects, submitted applications, carried out those projects and reported every expense item by item. And it does not end there. All of this is reported as part of Interior Ministry inspections.
"When an association receives a donation or project funding from abroad, it can only use that money after reporting it. This is something overseen by the Interior Ministry. How can that be a crime?"
'LGBTI+s organize not be killed'
Tar said LGBTI+s organize to protect themselves from violence and discrimination:
“LGBTI+s organize simply so they will not be killed. They organize simply so they can be treated like human beings. And then you proceed on the claim that this is somehow a crime.
‘What they call obscenity is the existence of LGBTI+s’
Tar also rejected claims that children had been “exposed to obscene content” and that attempts had been made to “change” their sexual orientation:
“They say ‘obscene content was shared where children could see it,’ but what they call obscene content is the existence of LGBTI+s. They also say, ‘They are trying to change their sexual orientation.’ We are talking about a movement that has been saying for years that sexual orientation and gender identity cannot be changed. It is not only the LGBTI+ movement saying this. The World Health Organization, health institutions and human rights organizations say the same thing.”
Tar drew attention to “conversion therapy” practices based on the claim that sexual orientation and gender identity can be changed:
"There are people who say sexual orientation and gender identity can be changed. Do you know who? Charlatans posing as psychologists who practice conversion therapy.
"Under the guise of conversion therapy, they try to forcibly turn gay people heterosexual, to change them through torture. If you are going to invent a crime called changing sexual orientation, they are the ones committing it."
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‘We are part of this land’
Tar concluded by emphasizing LGBTI+s’ demand for equal and humane treatment:
“We are saying something very simple, and we will continue to say it. We are part of this land. We were born here, we grew up here, and we live here. We want to be treated like human beings. We do not want to be looked down on.
"Everyone who speaks out against this persecution now will be standing up for their own humanity. Standing up for LGBTI+s today means standing up for our humanity and our conscience.”
(NÖ)
