Turkey Under Erdogan Intensifies LGBT Crackdown, Citing Family Values

Turkish authorities carried out what activists describe as an unprecedented offensive against the country’s LGBT community on Sunday, raiding gay venues and closing advocacy groups. Officials said the campaign was intended to defend Turkey’s family structure and social values.

Since the nationwide operation began, at least 116 people have been arrested or detained across 15 provinces in actions targeting LGBT activists and rights organizations. Amnesty International said prosecutors have also opened investigations into more than 160 people.

The human rights group said authorities have blocked or limited access to 180 social media accounts associated with LGBT groups, activists, journalists and news organizations.

Amnesty International condemned the government’s actions as a dramatic expansion of its campaign against LGBT people and their supporters. “The relentless raids, arrests and vilification of LGBTI people under the false pretext of protecting families show more clearly than ever why defending LGBTI rights in Türkiye is essential,” Esther Major, the organization’s deputy regional director for Europe, said in a statement.

Justice Minister Akın Gürlek defended the campaign in a statement shared on X, saying the government would continue working to shield families, children and young people from what it described as exploitation, obscenity, criminal activity and harmful material.

Gürlek said the Justice Ministry had issued broad instructions to the 175 chief public prosecutor’s offices operating across Turkey’s 81 provinces. The directive calls for action against conduct and content authorities classify as threats to “public morality” or harmful to children and young people.

“The welfare of our children is not subject to discussion,” Gürlek said, adding that the government would have “no tolerance” for organizations it accuses of attacking the family, Turkey’s youth and the country’s social order.

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The government’s emphasis on traditional family life is tied to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s “Decade of Family and Population” initiative. The long-term plan focuses on demographic trends and seeks to raise the birthrate to support population growth.

Critics view Erdoğan’s renewed campaign around “family values,” along with his attacks on groups portrayed as a danger to those values, as part of an effort to shape his political legacy.

As Erdoğan grows older and the country approaches another presidential election in 2028, analysts continue to debate what sort of Turkey he will ultimately leave behind.

“Erdoğan’s family-values agenda goes beyond defending conservative beliefs. It is also an attempt to define what Turkish society should look like and who is considered part of it,” Gonul Tol, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told News Outlet.

Tol said the LGBT community is a politically convenient target because Erdoğan can present it as a danger to the traditional family, an imported Western influence and a symbol of the cultural forces his movement claims to oppose.

Public opposition has begun to emerge, but the government’s crackdown shows no indication of slowing as criticism from abroad intensifies.

In İzmir, on Turkey’s Aegean coast, police fired pepper spray at peaceful demonstrators. More than 95 people were also detained Tuesday after gathering outside the İstanbul Courthouse to protest the campaign.

Turkey, which became an official European Union candidate in 1999, also faced sharp criticism from the European Commission over the arrests and restrictions.

A European Commission spokesperson told News Outlet, “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 Outlet, nor did the U.S. Embassy in Ankara or the State Department.