LGBTI+ activist İsmail: Be my voice, please

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İsmail Temel was among dozens who gathered in Alsancak, İzmir on August 5 to protest Turkey's possible withdrawal from İstanbul Convention. He was taken into custody despite having an epileptic seizure.

Temel has shared what he lived through on his social media account. He has said, "I was abducted by torture following the 'peaceful' İstanbul Convention protest that I joined to claim my universal rights disregarded due to my sexual orientation and to ensure that these rights are safeguarded."

'Police followed us'

Fainted when he was detained, Temel has shared the following details about what he lived through on the day of his detention:

"As I was there with my homosexual identity, I was targeted during the İstanbul Convention protest that I joined on August 5. As they specifically targeted me, I wanted to go back a little bit more, but seeing the police following me step by step from a corner, I went to the very front again.

"At that moment, there was a raid, again. You can also see it from the video how the police crushed us with their shields. Towards the end of the protest, we heard the warnings of people in the front rows, constantly saying, 'They will take you, you go run along now.'

"After the protest was over, I and the women who were with me (10 people the most) decided to walk to the taxi stand together. The protest was over and, as I have said, we walked to the taxi together.

"While we were walking, both plain-clothes and uniformed police officers were following us from our back and front, from our right and left.

'They detained me though I said I was sick'

"I got on the taxi. The moment I got on, an officer harshly held me by the arm, forcing me out of the car. It was only a matter of a few seconds that dozens of police officers grasped me all over. It can be seen from the video. I, over and over again, said that I was not feeling well, I was feeling sick, I was going to faint and I was ill, but they did not listen.

"They hurled me around even though I did not show any resistance at all, they dragged me on the ground, forced me to lie with my face against the ground, stepping harshly on my chest and holding my arm behind my back. While doing this, they hit my head on the ground twice.

"Then, they took me to the police car, dragging me on the ground, again. In the meanwhile, they were cursing my mother and father, myself and my orientation, they were cursing everything about me.

"They were threatening me over and over again, which still haunts me now, echoing in my mind again and again: 'We will beat you to faint in the car,' 'Who is gonna protect you there,' 'You are so done...'

"I already could not breathe due to the voice, noise, lack of air and harsh blows of the police officers at the moment of incident, I had a blackout for a moment and passed out.

"What I remember about the time when I was taken to sidewalk: While I was lying on my side, dozens of officers were still on me; while I was hardly breathing, they lifted my head and continuously poured water on my face for a minute in a deliberate attempt to prevent me from breathing.

"Then, without waiting for an ambulance, they took me in the police vehicle and abducted me like that while I was about to die.

'Please, be my voice'

"Though it has been two days since I lived through this horrible and traumatic incident, my body is still aching all over. My whole body is in bruises and full of scratches. My mental state, my psychology is ruined.

"I do not want them to get away with the torture that they inflicted on me. I will demand justice everywhere, but I do not have the power to do it on my own. It is of vital and invaluable importance to me if you stand with me in this process. Please, be my voice.

"We will not give up'

"I know that the attack that targeted me was also an attack against my identity as the member of an organization. I am an LGBTI+ activist from the Kızıl Okyanus (Red Ocean). No matter what they do, they cannot deter us from our organized struggle. No woman, no LGBTI+ will walk alone."

What happened?

After İstanbul Convention was targeted, women took to the streets in several provinces to protest Turkey's possible withdrawal from the convention.

On August 5, women gathered in front of the ÖSYM building in Alsancak district in Turkey's Aegean province of İzmir.

Intervening in the protest, police officers battered and detained 16 women. They were released after the related formalities were completed at the police station. Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) MP Serpil Kemalbay-Pekgözegü brought the incident into Parliamentary agenda. (EMK/SD)

* Photo: Social media