Allegations of homosexual prostitution and obscenity made against LGBTQI+ groups in Muslim-majority Turkey saw 26 people detained since Friday with offices of six allied associations also targeted in a series of police raids.
Reuters reports the protection of family values is behind the crackdown.
According to the outlet, the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office said “operations were carried out across 12 provinces against 38 suspects […] with authorities seizing drugs, digital equipment, smuggled alcohol and a firearm.”
Ankara-based gay association Kaos GL alleged some 50 activists had been detained – a higher figure than given by the chief prosecutor’s office – including more than 10 who were taken in police raids on their homes, Reuters added.
In addition, it said authorities blocked access to dozens of websites and social media accounts linked to LGBTI+ organisations, activists and rights advocates which have also been previously challenged by government authorities in the past.
File/A person holding a glass bottle speaks with another person in a crowd in Izmir, Turkey, on June 27, 2026. Police intervened in the Pride March organized by the Izmir Pride Committee in the Alsancak district, detaining at least 36 people after using force against participants. (Murat Kocabas / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)
“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.
This is not the first time gays in in Muslim-majority countries in the region have been targeted.
As Breitbart News reported, in July both Turkey and Egypt lined up to close their waters to a LGBTQQIAAP2S+ cruise ship “full of gay men” and sent them on their way.
Authorities in both countries did not allow Virgin Voyages’ cruise ship Scarlet Lady and its 2,000 gay passengers to enter local waters.
The 10-day Athens to Venice cruise was blocked after authorities published a statement online saying the cruise was chartered “by groups known for behaviours that do not align with the structure of our society and our moral values… We don’t allow this madness.”
The passengers’ lifestyle goes against our “moral standards” and “family values,” the Turkish statement set out clearly.
The cruise was described as “an epic all-gay voyage from Athens to Venice to the Mediterranean’s most iconic destinations — Mykonos, Santorini, Istanbul, Dubrovnik, and more. We’ll dazzle 2,500 guys with stellar entertainment, the world’s best parties, and awesome experiences aboard Virgin’s Scarlet Lady” in a May Instagram post made by Atlantis.
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