Türkiye remains second-worst country for LGBTI+s in Europe

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Türkiye was the second-worst country for LGBTI+s last year, just as it was in the past three years, according to the ILGA-Europe Rainbow Index.

Having scored 4 out of 100, Türkiye once again ranked 48th in the index, surpassing only Azerbaijan.

In its section about Türkiye, the report notes "systematic hate speech" against LGBTI+s from senior government officials, including the president and the interior minister, anti-LGBTI+ rallies, hate murders and ongoing trials.

Bans on the LGBTI+ Pride March, censorship, violations of the right to shelter, and deepening poverty of the LBGTI+s are also mentioned in the report.

The Kaos GL Association and the 17 Mayıs Association from Türkiye contributed to the report.

CLICK - Full Türkiye chapter of the report

ILGA-Europe made the following recommendations to the government of Türkiye:

• Giving LGBTI people protection under the constitution, by expressly referring to sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics.
• Removing obstacles to the effective exercise of freedom of assembly and association for LGBTI organizations, and ensure state protection and the safety of LGBTI human rights defenders.
• Explicitly including all SOGIESC (sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, sex characteristics) grounds in an equality action plan, accompanied by specific mechanisms to measure of progress. (EMK/VK)