The repression behind Turkey's 'Year of the Family'
At 6.30am on February 18th, Turkish police arrived at the home of journalist Yıldız Tar with a search warrant, detaining them on charges of ‘membership of a terrorist organisation’. According to Kaos GL, the LGBTI+ media platform where Tar is Editor-in Chief, the work phone calls used as evidence for their arrest, some dating back over a decade, were obtained through illegal phone taps.
Tar was one of 52 activists and journalists arrested that morning in nationwide raids targeting the Peoples’ Democratic Congress – a union of progressive organisations. Kaos GL warns that the raids are a ‘test case for Turkey’s broader authoritarian crackdown’, and that if Tar’s arrest goes unchallenged, others could follow.
The slew of arrests form part of a wider picture. In a speech on Janurary 13th, declaring 2025 the ‘Year of the Family’, President Tayyip Erdoğan described the LGBTI+ movement as a ‘battering ram’ against the ‘family institution’. Soon after, a leaked draft law revealed plans for sweeping anti-LGBTI+ measures, including up to three–year prison terms for ‘acting contrary to [one’s] biological sex’ and a sterilization requirement for those transitioning.
Hayriye Kara, a lawyer for Kaos GL, believes the leaked draft law is the latest in a long campaign of repression of LGBTI+ organizations and targeting of LGBTI+ figures since the mid-2010s. Kaos GL is urging rights defenders outside Turkey to demand Tar’s release and speak out against the draft law. ‘Attacks... will continue to increase,’ warns Hayriye. ‘All kinds of international solidarity and support will be needed.’
— Rohan Stevenson
👓 Revisit this 2022 piece by Tuğçe Özbiçer on how Turkish LGBTQI+ people build solidarity underneath a regime which brands them as terrorists
📣 Read this ILGA-Europe statement on the recent crackdown and proposed legislative changes against LGBTI+ communities
🏳️🌈 Follow the work of Kaos GL to keep up to date with the unfolding situation
✊ Learn more about the Rainbow Coalition and how to support queer organisations in Turkey
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