Turkish police sweep LGBTQI+ groups in five cities, arresting over a hundred people

In a series of overnight raids from September 12 to 14, Turkish police targeted LGBTQI+ rights organisations, HIV support groups and queer nightlife venues across five cities, arresting more than 112 people and keeping 82 in detention by court order. Justice Minister Akın Gürlek named the crackdown “My Family Is Safe,” linking it to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Decade of Family and Population programme aimed at boosting birth rates and defending “national and moral values.”

The raids seized offices of long-standing groups like Kaos GL and Lambda Istanbul, blocked dozens of websites and social-media accounts, and brought charges of obscenity, prostitution and crimes against public morality. When demonstrators gathered outside Istanbul’s main courthouse, over a hundred were detained. Human Rights Watch documented the arrests, while the government framed the operation as protecting the traditional family against perceived threats.