The LGBTQ+ Pride March in Istanbul was once again violently disrupted by Turkish police, who made dozens of arrests, including that of an AFP photographer.
Even before the rally began, riot police raided several bars in the Cihangir neighborhood around the iconic Taksim Square and “
randomly
” arrested people there, including journalists and LGBTQ+ activists, AFP noted.
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As every year now, the Pride March had been officially banned by the governor of the city, but hundreds of demonstrators waving rainbow flags gathered in the streets adjacent to Taksim Square, which is completely closed to the public.
Chanting “
The future is queer
”, “
You will never be alone
”, or “
We are here, we are queer, we will not go anywhere else
”, the demonstrators then marched for just over an hour. in the streets of the Cihangir district, supported by residents posted at the windows.
Those arrested were taken in two police buses to the city's main police station, an AFP videographer noted.
“
Defend our rights
”
The NGO Kaos GL, which campaigns for the promotion and protection of LGBTQ+ people, has counted "
52 arrests
", reported Amnesty International, which called for their "
unconditional and immediate release
" on Twitter.
"
They try to ban us, to prevent us, to discriminate against us and even to kill us every minute of our existence
," Diren, 22, told AFP.
"
But today is an opportunity to defend our rights, to shout that we exist: you will never be able to stop queers
," adds Diren, using the term which designates any form of altersexuality and refutes the biological definition of gender.
According to several witnesses, the police tried to prevent the press from filming the arrests.
Bülent Kilic, an experienced and award-winning AFP photographer familiar with conflict zones, was handcuffed behind his back, his T-shirt ripped off and loaded into a police van with others.
He had already been arrested last year in the same circumstances.
After a spectacular parade in 2014 of more than 100,000 people in Istanbul, Turkish authorities have banned the Pride March year after year, officially for security reasons.
On Friday, the European Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic, called on "
the Istanbul authorities to lift the ban in force on the Pride March and to guarantee the safety of peaceful demonstrators
".
"
The human rights of LGBT people in Turkey must be protected
," she added, calling for "
an end to (their) stigma
."
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Homosexuality, decriminalized in Turkey since the middle of the 19th century (1858), is not prohibited but remains largely subject to the social opprobrium and hostility of the ruling Islamic-conservative party, the AKP, and to that of the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
A minister once called homosexuals “
crazy
”.
In 2020, the Neftlix platform had been forced to give up the production of a series in Turkey because it presented a gay character and had not obtained the green light from the authorities.
The same year, the French brand of sports equipment and clothing Decathlon had been the subject of calls for a boycott in Turkey for having conveyed messages of support and tolerance to LGBTQ+ communities in its campaigns.