Turkey’s far-right government bashes gay rights, student protests
Erdogan once supported gay rights: more than two decades ago. Now that has changed.
By SETH J. FRANTZMANRiot police, with a rainbow flag in the background, chase LGBT rights activists as they try to gather for a pride parade in Istanbul, Turkey(photo credit: MURAD SEZER/REUTERS)Turkey’s far-right ruling AKP Party on Monday slammed gay-rights protests and slandered LGBT youth, leading to several arrests at Istanbul’s Bogazici University.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized LGBT youth and said the future of Turkey belonged to his AKP Party and its youth, who are in touch with the “glorious past.”In the past, he has compared Israel to Nazi Germany and frequently lashes out at Europe, the US and other countries. His attack on gay rights is the latest from the increasingly authoritarian regime, which has arrested thousands for critiquing the government.Turkey is the world’s largest jailer of journalists, and almost no criticism of the government or ruling party is allowed. People are prosecuted for tweets or comments opposing war and even for calling politicians bald. Ankara frequently alleges that dissidents are terrorists and jails them for decades.One of the last places where people were willing to protest was at Bogazici University, which the government has tried to control. Dozens of protesters were detained on Monday.With the crackdown on student protests, it appears that any protest is now illegal in Turkey.Gay-rights and -pride marches, which used to be normal in the country, are now almost all banned or met with police violence. The government’s homophobia and anti-gay comments are now normal, with the president slandering LGBT youth and accusing them of vandalism.Erdogan supported gay rights more than two decades ago. “Homosexuality has been legal throughout modern Turkey’s history,” France24 reported. “But gay people often face harassment, and LGBT events, including Istanbul Pride, have been blocked under Erdogan. Turkey was hit by a wave of student protests last month after Erdogan appointed a loyalist as the head of Bogazici University.” As many as 159 students have been detained, it said.Human-rights groups have remained relatively silent about Turkey’s crackdown on journalists, dissidents, students and gay-rights activists. Erdogan’s homophobic remarks, part of his rising hate rhetoric against minorities, has not been met with the kind of condemnation that these kinds of comments usually receive.It is unclear how Turkey and its regime are able to also silence human-rights groups or at least reduce their critique.For instance, while Amnesty International highlighted protests in Poland over the weekend and Human Rights Watch has reported on protests in India, it is unclear if they will release a statement about the attacks on LGBT youth in Turkey by the government and the president or the arrests of protesters by police. One of the few regional media outlets to cover the attacks on gay rights in Turkey was Rudaw in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
Related TagsRecep Tayyip ErdoganLGBTQ+
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