Homophobic attack in İstanbul: ‘It was like a life-and-death situation’

 "We are queers and here; get used to it!" (Photo: csgorselarsiv/Esra Tokat)

Click to read the article in Turkish

"The Pride March ended and we were about to go home. We were standing right across the park in Tophane, waiting for our friends.

"First, a couple of people came and started to stare at us. Then, they increased in number. They started to attack us verbally and physically.

"We thought we were all going to die. We went to the shopkeepers and told them, 'They are gonna kill us, help.' But the shopkeepers didn't give any support, either. It was like a life-and-death situation.

"Some of our friends were caught among that group and we moved away from there. Then, we learned that the police attacked that place with pepper gas and our friends ran away in the meantime.

"We applied to the Human Rights Association (İHD). We will appeal to the prosecutor's office and file a criminal complaint."

Joining the 19th İstanbul Pride March in Taksim on June 26, a group of lubunyas [queers] were attacked by a group of men in Tophane.

Speaking to bianet about what they went through, they say that they have received a medical report documenting the battery they were subjected to and they will file a criminal complaint via their attorneys:

'We asked for help; it didn't come'

"At around 9.30 p.m. on Saturday, we - as a group of 7-8 people - were waiting for our friends on the side of a very busy street in Tophane. Then, over 30 people gathered at the park across the street. As one of our friends had a crop top, they told this friend, 'Cover yourself, man.'

"Then, without us understanding what was going on, they ran to us and attacked us. Hurling swear words and hitting only our heads, they beat us for minutes. While we were running to other streets, trying to escape, people came out of their houses there, hitting and attacking us.

"One of my friends was caught among the crowd. As we could not take that friend from there, we - as the ones who managed to escape - asked the shopkeepers and the people around for help, saying, 'Our friend is dying, please help.' But no one did anything about it.

"We could do nothing other than running away and hoping that our friends would escape, too. I would like to underline this because I want everyone to understand the desperation and the gravity of the hate crime committed there. Another friend who was caught among the group said that s/he could do nothing except for covering her/his head and waiting for it to stop.

'Police intervened very late'

"They especially tried to hit us in the head. When it got really crowded with the ones going out of their houses and hitting us while we were trying to escape, the police intervened with pepper gas and plastic bullets; it was only in this way that we all managed to escape.

"The police intervened after we had been beaten up for minutes. If they had been a little more late, some of us would not have survived.

Police: Don't exaggerate

"When it ended and we went away from the scene of the incident, we just sat on the wayside and started crying. A police officer that we encountered in the meanwhile told us, 'You shouldn't have gone there, they are playing the 'Pit' [a TV series on mafia] game there' and 'You shouldn't exaggerate it that much; you are human beings, you can have a fight.'

"While we - as 7 or 8 friends - were sitting on the wayside and having a chat, we were attempted to be lynched and killed by a group of people because one of our friends was wearing a short shirt."

'Long live life just to spite hate'

Concluding their remarks, the lubunyas say that they will struggle against hate and seek their rights in the face of this attack:

"In this country, the government and the law enforcement affiliated with it are committing a hate crime everyday.

"The one responsible for the attempted lynch that we faced is also the government, which gradually steps up hate policies and hate speech against the LGBTIA+s. Long live life just to spite hate." (EMK/SD)