Erdogan’s Turkey Cracks Down on LGBT Community to ‘Protect Family Values’

Turkish authorities on Sunday began what rights groups describe as an unprecedented campaign against the country’s LGBT community, raiding gay bars and closing activist organizations. The government said the measures were intended to defend Turkey’s family values.

The nationwide operation has led to the arrest or detention of about 116 people in 15 provinces, targeting LGBT rights groups and individual activists. More than 160 additional people are under investigation through Turkey’s criminal justice system, Amnesty International said.

Amnesty also said that 180 social media accounts linked to LGBT organizations, activists, journalists and media outlets have been blocked or had their access restricted.

“This appalling escalation in Türkiye’s crackdown amounts to a full-scale assault on LGBTI rights and those who defend them. The relentless raids, arrests and demonization of LGBTI people under the spurious guise of ‘protecting the families’ demonstrates why defending LGBTI rights in Türkiye is more important than ever,” Esther Major, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for Europe, said in a statement.

In a post on X, Turkish Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said the government would continue efforts to shield families, children and young people from what he called exploitation, obscenity, crime and harmful content.

Gürlek said the Justice Ministry had issued a broad directive to the country’s 175 chief public prosecutor offices across all 81 provinces, ordering action against content and conduct officials deem contrary to “public morality” or damaging to young people.

“The best interests of our children are not open to debate for us,” Gürlek said. “We will show no tolerance for any criminal organization targeting the institution of the family, the future of our youth, and the order of our society.”

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Turkey’s focus on family values and traditional norms is part of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Decade of Family and Population vision, a long-term strategy aimed at tracking population trends and promoting an increased fertility rate to spur population growth.

Many see Erdoğan’s renewed emphasis on “family values,” and his targeting of groups he portrays as threats to those values, as an effort to cement his legacy.

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An enduring question asked by analysts as Erdogan ages and approaches another election in 2028 is what kind of Turkey he leaves behind.

“Erdoğan’s ‘family values’ agenda is about more than defending conservative values, it is about defining what kind of society Turkey should be and who belongs in it,” Gonul Tol, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told News Media.

“The LGBT community is a particularly useful target because Erdoğan can portray it simultaneously as a threat to the traditional family, a Western import, and a symbol of the cultural values he says his movement is fighting against,” Gonul added.

With protests against the moves beginning to take shape, the crackdowns show no signs of letting up, even as international attention and condemnation begins to pour in.

Police used pepper spray against peaceful protesters in İzmir, along Turkey’s Aegean coast, and detained more than 95 people on Tuesday who had gathered outside İstanbul Courthouse in protest.

Turkey, which officially became a candidate for the European Union in 1999, received strong pushback from the commission.

A European Commission spokesperson told News Media, “The Commission is concerned about the recent arrests and legal proceedings initiated against LGBTIQ+ activists, human rights associations, and businesses, as well as of the blockages of websites and social media accounts, accompanied with allegations concerning funding of civil society organizations. We are following developments closely.” 

The commission reiterated that Turkey, as an EU candidate and member of the Council of Europe, should promote and ensure respect for the human rights and dignity of all individuals, regardless of gender or sexual identity.

A spokesman for the Turkish embassy in Washington, D.C., did not respond to requests for comment from News Media, nor did the U.S. Embassy in Ankara or the State Department.