In the early hours of a September Sunday, Turkish authorities swept across five cities in a coordinated operation that arrested over 150 people — activists, journalists, and protesters — under the banner of family protection. The crackdown, the broadest against LGBTQ+ communities in Turkey in recent memory, reveals how demographic anxiety and political identity can be weaponized through the quiet machinery of obscenity law. What is being contested here is not merely the right to gather or speak, but the older and more fundamental question of who belongs to the public life of a nation.
Turkey launches widest LGBTQ+ crackdown in years under 'family protection' guise
Over 150 people arrested during protests and raids; journalists detained for reporting; protesters teargassed by authorities; at least 62 held on remand.
Being LGBTQ+ is not a crime, but the state made it dangerous to say so.
Mark
Why did the government frame this as a family protection operation rather than just saying what it was—a crackdown on LGBTQ+ people?
Mimi
Because obscenity laws and family values language give them legal cover. Homosexuality isn't illegal in Turkey, so they needed a different charge. Obscenity, protecting children from content—these are tools that sound reasonable on the surface.
Luke
But we should be careful here. The government says they seized drugs and a firearm. How much of this operation was actually about those things versus LGBTQ+ advocacy? The reporting doesn't fully separate those.
Mark
So some of the 150 arrested might not have been activists at all?
Mimi
Exactly. Rights groups believe more than 100 were detained, but only 62 held on remand. That gap suggests a lot of people were swept up—some on drug charges, some on prostitution charges. The operation cast a wide net.
Luke
And the journalist—Tuğba Tekerek—was arrested for publishing a story about LGBTQ+ people in Georgia. That's press freedom, not obscenity.
Mark
Which means they're not just targeting organisations, they're targeting reporting about LGBTQ+ issues.
Mimi
Yes. And the timing matters. This happens right after Erdoğan declares a decade focused on family and population. The government is explicitly linking demographic anxiety to the crackdown.
Luke
Though we should note—the connection between LGBTQ+ people and Turkey's fertility rate is not actually established in the reporting. That's the government's claim, not a fact.
Mark
So they're using demographic panic as justification for something that's really about control?
Mimi
That's what the evidence suggests. But the government would say they're protecting children and family values.
Luke
And that's the tension. Both things can be true—the government genuinely believes in what it's doing, and it's still a crackdown on a vulnerable community.
Il Polso
- Before dawn, police entered offices, seized rainbow flags and digital equipment, and led people away in handcuffs across Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Aydın, and Mersin simultaneously.
- The government named the operation 'My Family is Safe,' openly linking the arrests to President Erdoğan's declared 'decade of the family' and stated alarm over falling birthrates and rising divorce.
- A journalist was arrested at home and transported across the country for questioning after writing about LGBTQ+ life abroad — signaling that reporting itself had become a target.
- When hundreds took to the streets in protest, authorities responded with teargas and mass detentions, arresting at least 150 demonstrators in Istanbul alone.
- Rights groups warn that after a proposed penal code amendment explicitly targeting LGBTQ+ people was withdrawn last year, authorities have quietly shifted to using broad obscenity statutes to achieve the same end.
- At least 62 people remain held on remand, with trials already underway for others charged with publishing images of same-sex couples — offenses that carry sentences of up to three years.
In the early hours of a September Sunday, Turkish authorities swept across five cities in a coordinated operation that arrested over 150 people — activists, journalists, and protesters — under the banner of family protection. The crackdown, the broadest against LGBTQ+ communities in Turkey in recent memory, reveals how demographic anxiety and political identity can be weaponized through the quiet machinery of obscenity law. What is being contested here is not merely the right to gather or speak, but the older and more fundamental question of who belongs to the public life of a nation.
Before dawn on a Sunday in September, Turkish police moved across five cities at once. In Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Aydın, and Mersin, officers entered the offices of LGBTQ+ rights organizations and HIV-advocacy groups, seized equipment and flags, and led people away in handcuffs. By the end of the operation, more than 150 people had been arrested. Human Rights Watch called it the widest crackdown on LGBTQ+ people in Turkey in recent years.
The government named the operation 'My Family is Safe.' Justice Minister Akın Gürlek framed it as protection — of children, of family, of social order — and cited statistics on rising divorce rates, declining fertility, and weakening family bonds. The legal tool was obscenity law, broad enough to charge LGBTQ+ activists with distributing material deemed harmful to minors. Homosexuality remains legal in Turkey, but the space to organize around it had been narrowing for years.
The raids reached beyond offices and venues. Journalist Tuğba Tekerek was arrested at her home in Istanbul and transported to Ankara for questioning after publishing a piece with Kaos GL — one of Turkey's oldest LGBTQ+ advocacy groups — about LGBTQ+ life in Georgia. Seven members of Kaos GL's executive board were also detained. Rights groups believe 62 people were held on remand, though the total detained exceeded 100, a figure that included people arrested on drug and prostitution charges with no clear connection to LGBTQ+ organizations.
When protesters took to the streets, the crackdown expanded. Authorities teargassed hundreds in İzmir. In Istanbul, police detained at least 150 demonstrators. Outside a courthouse, several arrests followed after protesters unfurled a banner reading 'Being LGBTQ+ is not a crime.' The state's answer was dispersal, not dialogue.
The operation fits within a larger political project. Last year, a draft penal code amendment that would have explicitly criminalized all LGBTQ+ people in Turkey was withdrawn — but the pressure did not ease. Authorities have since relied on existing obscenity statutes and constitutional provisions around family values. Last month, eleven leaders of the Genç LGBTI+ organization went on trial for publishing images of same-sex couples kissing, facing sentences of up to three years.
Rights groups have challenged the government's framing directly. Emma Sinclair-Webb of Human Rights Watch noted that Turkey has a well-documented record of domestic violence, child abuse, and femicide — and that a genuine commitment to family protection would address those realities first. The operation, in her reading, uses the language of protection to accomplish something else: the criminalization of a community and the silencing of those who speak for it. Whether international attention or continued protest will slow what has been set in motion remains an open question.
Before dawn on Sunday, Turkish police moved simultaneously across five cities. In Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Aydın, and Mersin, officers entered the offices of LGBTQ+ rights organisations and HIV-advocacy groups. They opened filing cabinets, seized rainbow flags, and led people away in handcuffs. Video released by the interior ministry showed the raids in clinical detail—the methodical search, the confiscation of digital equipment, drugs, and a firearm. By the time the sun rose, dozens had been arrested. Within days, the operation had swallowed more than 150 people.
The government called it "My Family is Safe." Justice Minister Akın Gürlek framed the sweep as necessary protection—of children, of family, of social order. The legal mechanism was obscenity law, a broad tool that allowed prosecutors to charge LGBTQ+ activists and advocates with violating statutes against obscene material and content deemed harmful to minors. Homosexuality itself remains legal in Turkey, but the space to organise around it, to speak about it, to advocate for it, had been narrowed considerably. Emma Sinclair-Webb of Human Rights Watch called it the widest crackdown on LGBTQ+ people in recent years.
The raids targeted organisations and venues, but they also reached into homes and newsrooms. Tuğba Tekerek, a journalist, was arrested at her home in Istanbul and transported to Ankara for questioning after publishing a piece with Kaos GL, one of Turkey's oldest LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, about the LGBTQ+ community in Georgia. Seven members of Kaos GL's executive board were detained. The Media and Law Studies Association, a Turkish press freedom group, documented the arrests. Rights groups tracking the detentions believe 62 people were held on remand, though more than 100 were detained overall—a figure that includes people arrested on drug and prostitution charges, some of whom may have had no connection to LGBTQ+ organisations.
When people took to the streets to protest, the crackdown expanded. Turkish authorities teargassed hundreds of demonstrators in İzmir. In Istanbul on Tuesday, police detained at least 150 people protesting the raids. Dozens more were arrested in Ankara. Outside a courthouse in Istanbul, according to the French news agency AFP, several arrests occurred after protesters unfurled a banner reading "Being LGBTQ+ is not a crime" and chanted for freedom. The state's response was not dialogue but dispersal.
The operation sits within a larger political project. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has declared what he calls "a decade of the family and population," a directive aimed at boosting Turkey's birthrate. Gürlek cited the statistics: family ties weakening, marriage age rising, divorce rates climbing, fertility declining. "The statistics are alarming for all of us," he said. The connection between this demographic anxiety and the targeting of LGBTQ+ people was direct and stated openly.
This is not the first time Turkish authorities have moved against LGBTQ+ advocacy. Last year, a draft amendment to the penal code proposed prosecuting all LGBTQ+ people in Turkey for promoting behaviour "contrary to biological sex and general morality." That amendment was withdrawn, but the pressure did not ease. Instead, authorities have increasingly relied on existing obscenity laws and constitutional provisions around family values. Last month, eleven leaders of the Genç LGBTI+ organisation went on trial accused of publishing images of same-sex couples kissing—charges that carry sentences of up to three years.
Rights groups have questioned the logic of the government's framing. Sinclair-Webb acknowledged that protecting children and families matters, but she pointed to a different reality: Turkey has a large and documented record of domestic violence, many cases of child abuse, and murders of women. If family protection were the genuine concern, she suggested, the focus would not be on LGBTQ+ activists. The operation, in this reading, uses the language of protection to accomplish something else—the criminalisation of a community and the silencing of those who speak for it.
What comes next remains unclear. The trials will proceed. More people may be charged. The legal architecture for further action is in place. The question now is whether the international attention and the protests will create any friction against the machinery that has been set in motion, or whether the operation will continue to expand in the months ahead.
Citazioni salienti
This is the widest crackdown on LGBTQ+ people in recent years.— Emma Sinclair-Webb, Human Rights Watch
If family protection were the genuine concern, the focus would not be on LGBTQ+ activists in a country with a large record of domestic violence, child abuse, and murders of women.— Emma Sinclair-Webb, Human Rights Watch (paraphrased)
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Politics & Governance