Turkey detains LGBTQ+ activists

What's happened

Turkish authorities have carried out coordinated raids across at least five provinces in a campaign called "My Family is Safe," detaining more than 100 people, searching LGBTQ+ and HIV‑advocacy offices, raiding bars and homes, and blocking social media accounts; ministers say the operation protects children and family values.

What's behind the headline?

What is happening

• Turkish prosecutors have coordinated an operation, "My Family is Safe," that has led police to search offices, homes and venues linked to LGBTQ+ and HIV-advocacy groups across Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Aydın and Mersin.
• Authorities are detaining scores of people, seizing digital equipment and restricting access to websites and social media accounts belonging to rights groups and independent media.

Who is driving the action

• The justice ministry and chief prosecutors are leading the raids; Justice Minister Akın Gürlek is publicly framing the operation as protecting children, the family and public order.
• President Erdoğan's push for a "Decade of the Family" provides the political cover for prosecutors to use obscenity and NGO rules to pursue cases against activists and organisations.

Why this matters and what will follow

• The operation will increase pressure on civil society and shrink safe spaces for LGBTQ+ people in Turkey. Organisations that publish content online will face greater legal risk and platform restrictions.
• International scrutiny will intensify: European institutions and human-rights NGOs have criticised the raids and called for releases, which will raise diplomatic pressure on Ankara and could affect Turkey's relations with the EU and human-rights bodies.

Likely outcomes

• Courts will move some detainees to remand and press charges under opaque "obscenity" or NGO statutes; trials will signal whether prosecutors are building broad criminal cases or pursuing narrower offences.
• Rights groups will shift activity offshore and rely on international advocacy; online platforms will face repeated takedown requests from Turkish authorities, reducing local visibility for affected groups.

Bottom line

• The raids mark a clear escalation in state action against LGBTQ+ organising in Turkey. This will force activists to adapt tactics, while prompting sustained international criticism that will test Ankara's political calculations.

How we got here

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has promoted a "Decade of the Family" and officials have used broad "obscenity" and NGO regulations to target LGBTQ+ groups. Authorities have previously banned Pride events and blocked accounts; rights groups say the current sweep expands a pattern of legal and online restrictions.

Our analysis

The Guardian reports detailed footage and local prosecutor statements showing police searching filing cabinets, seizing rainbow flags and taking activists into custody; Emma Sinclair-Webb of Human Rights Watch described the raids as "the widest crackdown on LGBTQ+ people in recent years." The Guardian also cites prosecutors saying officials seized digital equipment, drugs and a firearm, and notes that charges cite "obscenity" and NGO rules. AFP, quoted in BBC Business and the Independent, described protesters outside İstanbul's Çağlayan courthouse chanting "Long live the struggle for freedom!" and reported police detaining demonstrators who unfurled banners reading "Being LGBTQ is not a crime." BBC Business quotes the Council of Europe's human-rights commissioner, Michael O'Flaherty, saying he is "concerned by reports of a series [of] arrests, raids and the blocking of websites and social media accounts targeting LGBTI civil society." France 24 and The New Arab link the operation to President Erdoğan's "Decade of the Family" messaging; Justice Minister Akın Gürlek is quoted across outlets saying the sweep aims to "protect our children, the institution of the family and social order." Amnesty International is quoted by the Washington Post calling for other governments to press Turkey to stop; Amnesty has also helped organise protests outside the Turkish embassy in Washington. Kaos GL, one of the targeted groups cited in multiple reports, says its executives and offices were searched and that prosecutors accused it of publishing material "containing obscenity." These accounts together show consistent reporting on coordinated raids, mass detentions, online restrictions and government framing around family protection, while rights groups and European officials provide the principal critical perspective.

Go deeper

• How many people remain on remand and what charges have prosecutors filed?
• Which social media accounts and websites have been blocked and how long will restrictions last?
• How will the EU and other diplomatic partners respond to calls for releases and investigations?

More on these topics

• Türkiye (Turkey) - Country in the Middle East

  Turkey, officially the Republic of Turkey, is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia, with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeastern Europe.

• Istanbul - Largest city in Turkey

  Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical center. With a population of over 15 million, it is home to 18% of the population of Turkey. Istanbul is among the largest cities in Europe and in the...

• Ankara - Capital of Turkey

  Ankara, historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city covers an area of 25,706 square kilometres, and has a population of 4.5 million residents in the urban centre, and over 5.6 millio

• Amnesty International - Non-governmental organization

  Amnesty International is a non-governmental organization with its headquarters in the United Kingdom focused on human rights. The organization says it has more than eight million members and supporters around the world.

• Istanbul Pride - Annual LGBT event in Istanbul, Turkey

  Istanbul Pride is a gay pride march and LGBT demonstration held annually in Turkey's biggest city, Istanbul. The event first took place in 2003 and now occurs each year on either the last Sunday of June or the first Sunday of July, to mark the end of Ista

• Europe - Region in Europe

  Central Europe is the region comprising the central part of Europe. Central Europe occupies continuous territories that are otherwise sometimes considered parts of Western Europe, Southern Europe and Eastern Europe.

• LGB

  LGBT is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the term is an adaptation of the initialism LGB, which was used to replace the term gay in reference to the LGBT community beginning in the mid-to-late

• Human Rights Watch - Non-governmental organization

  Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights.

• Recep Tayyip Erdoğan - President of Turkey

  Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current President of Turkey. He previously served as Prime Minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998.

• European Union

  The European Union is a political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe. Its members have a combined area of 4,233,255.3 km² and an estimated total population of about 447 million.