Turkey detains 26 people after raids in six LGBTQ+ associations

ISTANBUL - Turkish authorities have detained 26 people and searched the offices of six LGBTQ+ associations in a series of raids that followed allegations of prostitution and obscenity, prosecutors said.

The crackdown is part of a campaign that the government says is aimed at protecting family values.

The Istanbul chief prosecutor's office said operations were carried out across 12 provinces against 38 suspects over the weekend, with authorities seizing drugs, digital equipment, smuggled alcohol and a firearm.

Ankara-based LGBTQ+ association Kaos GL said at least 50 activists had been detained - a higher figure than that given by the chief prosecutor's office - including more than 10 who were taken in police raids on their homes.

In addition, it said authorities blocked access to dozens of websites and social media accounts linked to LGBTI+ organisations, activists and rights advocates.

Dubbed "My Family is Safe", the government's crackdown comes as President Tayyip Erdogan promotes a "Decade of Family and Population", an initiative designed to tackle falling birth rates and an aging demographic.

Rights groups have accused the Turkish government of increasingly targeting the LGBTQ+ community in recent years through a hardening of rhetoric and restrictions.

"The real name of this operation is not 'My Family is Safe'; it is state-led discrimination, politics of fear and the dismantling of civil society," the Turkish Human Rights Association said on X.

The prosecutor's office said evidence indicated that children and underage youths were being inappropriately influenced on issues relating to sexual orientation and gender identity.

Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said investigations coordinated by prosecutors in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Aydin and Mersin involved judicial proceedings against 162 suspects, nine associations and 13 businesses across 15 provinces.

-Reporting by Ece Toksabay and Daren Butler; Editing by Christina Fincher/Reuters