What’s happening?
As part of a operation titled “My family is Safe”, the Türkish government has launched unprecedented coordinated attacks and raids against LGBTQIA+ civil society, human rights defenders, activists and LGBTQ+ associated venues.
According to a statement from Minister of Justice Akin Gürlek, the operation encompasses:
- 162 Individuals
- 9 Associations
- 13 business
- 15 provinces
Turkiye’s scapegoating of queer people
As part of the “Decade of family and Population” declaration, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has painted queerness as a “threat to social morality” , and has referred to LGBTQIA+ people as “obscene” , and “perverts responsible for the falling birth rate”.
This is not a recent or a sudden development.
Erdoğan has publicly demonized the LGBTQ community since 2025, blaming the falling birth rate on LGBTQ people rather than providing useful solutions that allow people to feel supported in having children.
Not only does this not solve the problem that they intend to, this has only led to the criminalization, demonization and discrimination of queer people.
Documented events
12th Sept 2026: Türkish Government court-ordered the blocking of websites and social media accounts of numerous LGBTQI+ organisations, media platforms, student groups, human rights defenders and activists.
13th Sept 2026: In the early morning (around 1am), police operations began simultaneously across multiple provinces. Nearly 50 (subject to change as operations continue) LGBTQI+ rights defenders, association executives and founders, members, former executives and independent activists have been detained or subjected to police procedures.
14th Sept 2026: A circular was issued by the Ministry of Justice, expanding on “public morality frameworks”, explicitly condemning activities allegedly encouraging “genderlessness” amongst youth.
15th Sept 2026: Pro-LGBTQ protests have taken place outside of Istanbul’s main courthouse, comprising of people in opposition of the raids and human rights groups, prompting mass arrests by the police.
Since then, as many as 125 protestors were detained across Ankara, Istanbul, and Izmir, with many citing concerns about unjust restrictions to Turkish citizens’ right to freedom of assembly. They have since been released.
Financial Investigations and International Funding
The Turkish authorities have also publicly linked the investigations to the financial activities and foreign funding of LGBTQI+ organisations.
This makes it significantly harder for LGBTQ civil society groups to receive funding, and cooperate with international human rights mechanisms.
It is important to note that receiving funds from international sources is legal in Turkiye.
This is but an effort to shut down LGBTQ organizing for activists and civil society groups and prevent organizing.Financial Investigations and International Funding
APTN Statement
As of now, the Turkish government has sought to control LGBTQ activists through:
- Scapegoating and stigmatization
- Online restrictions
- Home and office raids
- Detainment and arrests
- Confiscation of electronics
- Investigations of civil society board members
- Crackdowns on international funding
The act of punishing LGBTQ people and civil society organisations purely for being who they are is unacceptable.
Especially in this time of rising anti-queer sentiments worldwide, using queer people as scapegoats is an incredibly irresponsible thing to do.
APTN expresses dismay and concern towards the mass mobilization of state force against a marginalized community.
The importance of LGBTQ+ organisations and human rights defenders in Turkiye cannot be understated, especially at a time when queer people are treated as “threats” and “deviants”.
Existing as a queer person should not be a crime, and blaming the declining population on them will not achieve anything of value. In fact, the only way to fix that is to make sure that all citizens of Turkiye can live in dignity, security, and freedom.
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