During weekend raids targeting LGBTQ+ activists and organizations in Turkey, several people were arrested and many social media accounts were blocked. The Turkish government's actions have drawn sharp criticism from across the country and abroad. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had announced the operation as part of the "Decade of Family and Population" scheme, a national strategy proclaimed in May 2025 that was to counter the drastic decline in the country's birth rate and strengthen the traditional, conservative family view.
Istanbul saw renewed demonstrations on Tuesday, with LGBTQ+ associations emphasizing in a joint declaration that it wasn't a crime to set up an association and advocate for rights. "Freedom of assembly, freedom of opinion, protection of privacy and presumption of innocence apply to LGBTQ+ people as well," the declaration stated. The LGBTQ+ community also received support from the women's movement, with 120 women's rights organizations signing a joint declaration in which they criticized authoritarianism in Turkey.
"As women, we stand against the operations carried out in the name of 'keeping the family safe.' We know that the repression of our bodies, our lives, our identities and our right to organize is part of the same authoritarian politics. Being [LGBTQ+] is not a crime! Organizing as [LGBTQ+] people is not a crime!" The government is trying to criminalize the LGBTQ+ community, said Yildiz Taghizade, advocacy officer at Women for Women's Human Rights (WWHR), an organization that co-signed the declaration.
This criminalization did not just start with the operations of the past few days, but had already been going on for a few years, according to Taghizade. "The aim is not only to target LGBTQ+ people, but to practically ban the LGBTQ+ community from engaging in politics, getting organized, claiming rights and showing presence in the public sphere," Taghizade said. It was no coincidence that the operation came with the slogan "My family is safe." "The government is trying to justify its actions by invoking the protection of families and children, but this narrative doesn't work.
Because when we look at Turkey today and what is actually a factor of uncertainty for families, we come across very concrete issues such as poverty, the housing crisis, unemployment, care work [caring for and tending to relatives — Editor's note] passed on to women, and male violence against women," Taghizade said. Other organizations have also criticized the government's actions. The Turkish Medical Association described them as a violation of human rights, demanding an end to the politics of discrimination.
It was unacceptable, it said, to treat gender identity and sexual orientation as a crime, take people out of their homes at night and block digital channels — all in the name of family protection and security. Erkan Bas, head of the Turkish Workers' Party, called for the immediate release of those arrested, arguing that the mere existence of LGBTQ+ persons was no crime. But all those who did not share the government's views were "'called to order' by judiciary, truncheon and censorship.
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