Politicians, legal professionals, political parties, and rights advocates have reacted to the operations targeting LGBTI+ associations, venues, and activists. Statements issued asserted that the operation was political and that the existence of the LGBTI+ community was being targeted.
Last night, police conducted simultaneous operations targeting LGBTI+ associations, venues, and activists under the name “My Family is Safe.”
In a post on his social media account, Justice Minister Akın Gürlek announced that the operations were centered in five provinces and covered a total of fifteen provinces, and that legal proceedings were initiated against 162 individuals, nine associations, and thirteen businesses.
Politicians, legal professionals, political parties, and rights advocates reacted to the operations targeting LGBTI+ associations, activists, and venues.
DEM Women’s Assembly: We will never remain silent in the face of attacks!
The Women’s Assembly of Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) stated, “We do not accept the attacks—involving detentions, searches, seizures, and access blocks—targeting LGBTI+ associations, rights defenders, and digital media outlets.”
The statement continued as follows:
“This operation, dubbed ‘My Family is Safe,’ is—as the name implies—an operation aimed at subjugating society. It is clear evidence of the persistent pursuit of policies rooted in monism and sexism.
Every day, women are subjected to violence and murdered within families that are labeled ‘safe.’ Diverse sexual identities do not constitute a security threat to this country, to families, or to society.
The real security issue is the violence, impunity, and discrimination that threaten the lives of women and LGBTI+ individuals.
You cannot keep society safe by silencing human rights defenders, stoking hate crimes, blocking broadcasts, and targeting the freedom of association.
Justice must be for everyone, not just for a single individual or group. The duty of the Ministry of Justice is not to suppress human rights defenders, journalists, LGBTI+ individuals, and democratic organizations, but to safeguard the rights and freedoms of all.
Societal security is achieved not through repression and bans, but by guaranteeing equality, freedom, justice, and the right to life.
As advocates of a shared and equal life together, we will never remain silent in the face of attacks against LGBTI+ individuals!
Those detained must be released immediately!
Justice for all, freedom for all, an equal life for all!”
DEM Party MPs Saki and Konukçu issued statements on their social media accounts, reacting to the state’s “policy of impunity.”
In a post on X, DEM Party Istanbul MP Özgül Saki said, “You attack people and the spaces where they show solidarity using fabricated charges.”
Stating that the common denominator among the associations and individuals targeted is their opposition to the “familialist, moralistic, and hate-generating policies” imposed by the government, Saki remarked that, under the guise of “protecting the family,” the government seeks to confine society to a single way of life, target LGBTI+ individuals, and criminalize those fighting for their rights.
DEM Party Istanbul MP Kezban Konukçu also stated that the government, under the guise of “protecting the family,” paves the way for the killing of women and LGBTI+ individuals and encourages this through policies of impunity.
She declared, “Despite hate, Long live life!”
IHD: We will not yield to the September 12 mentality!
In a statement regarding the operations, the Central LGBTI+ Commission of the Human Rights Association (IHD) declared, “We will not yield to the September 12 mentality.”
Stating that the current situation is not a judicial investigation but rather a political operation—one that aims to eliminate LGBTI+ individuals and independent civil society while forcing society into a monolithic family model under the guise of “protecting the family and children”—the IHD emphasized this “continuity,” noting: “The state mindset of September 12—which shut down associations, banned publications, and demonized those who were different—is being perpetuated today under the name ‘My Family is Safe’ (Ailem Güvende).”
The association concluded: “We stand with LGBTI+ individuals, people living with HIV, and human rights defenders! We will not yield to the September 12 mentality!”
New Party Member Gökçen: It harms social peace
New Party Izmir Deputy Gökçe Gökçen expressed her reaction with the following words:
“The targeting of LGBTI+ rights defenders amounts to both the penalization of identities and existence and the simultaneous implementation of two bills that failed to pass in parliament. The ‘agent of influence’ law did not pass, and the law against ‘promoting homosexuality’ (!) did not pass.”
“A cheap copy-and-paste example of hate campaigns devised and planned in other countries is being staged in our country, causing great harm to social peace.”
“The banning of a band you listen to, the targeting of an artist whose concert you plan to attend, your child being exposed to workplace fatalities by the ministry, the arrest of a politician you voted for, and the raids conducted on these associations are not isolated incidents; on the contrary, the legitimacy established for one reinforces the others. Therefore, a holistic struggle for rights and freedoms is vital today—and is, in truth, a struggle for dignity.”
Karaca: The Minister of Justice is fueling hatred and discrimination
EMEP Deputy Chairperson and Antep MP Karaca reacted to Akın Gürlek, stating, “Imagine a Minister of Justice who criminalizes the constitutional right to organize, personally fuels hatred and discrimination, and spearheads the state-sponsored escalation of hatred and hostility!”
Stating that these operations are conducted to force society into the mold of the “acceptable family” and “acceptable citizen,” Karaca said, “Defending the rights of LGBTI individuals to live and organize means defending the rights and freedoms of everyone in this country.”
Karaca affirmed that they would continue to defend the right to life, equality, constitutional freedoms, and the right to organize against the politics of hatred, repression, and the usurpation of the right to organize, and demanded the release of those detained.
ÖHD and ÇHD also shared their reactions
The Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD) stated that the detentions constitute a violation of fundamental rights and freedoms, particularly the freedoms of expression and association.
Noting that the operations coincided with the anniversary of the September 12 coup, the ÖHD remarked, “These events serve as a reminder of just how alive the state’s practices of repression and criminalization directed at diverse identities and lifestyles remain.”
“Defending LGBTI+ rights is not a crime; on the contrary, it is a requirement of a democratic society,” the ÖHD said, calling for an end to the detentions and repressive measures.
The Istanbul Branch of the Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD) also stated in a post on its X account: “Members serving on the executive and supervisory boards of LGBTI+ associations have been detained in home raids. Association offices are being raided. We stand with LGBTI+ individuals against these attacks that usurp the freedom of association through hate-stoking, moralistic, and family-centric policies!”
SKM: Those detained should be released immediately
In a statement, the Socialist Women’s Assemblies (SKM) asked, “Which family?”
“The male-dominated, heterosexist state is attempting to bring into line—through attacks involving detentions and arrests—anyone who does not fit into the ‘family’ structure where women and LGBTI+ individuals are murdered, subjected to violence, and exploited every day,” the SKM stated, adding, “You cannot erase our existence through detentions, arrests, or bans.”
They called for the immediate release of those detained.
