Turkish Police Detain At Least 50 People, Including Journalist Muberra Unsal, At Istanbul Pride

Turkish police detained at least 50 people, including a journalist, during an LGBTQ+ Pride event in Istanbul that went ahead despite a ban by local authorities and a lockdown of the city’s main gathering point.

“Since 2015, Pride marches have been systematically banned in Turkey, where hostility toward the LGBTI+ community has continued to grow”

Amnesty International France

Police stepped up security around Istanbul’s Taksim Square, erecting iron barriers, while local officials banned demonstrations in key rallying areas including the Asian-side district of Kadikoy.

Amnesty International France

The Turkish Journalists’ Union said one of those detained was Muberra Unsal, who holds a valid press card, and it said: "Despite repeatedly identifying herself as a journalist, Unsal was also taken into custody".

Organisers said the Pride march proceeded despite the ban, and protesters chanted: "My love, today isn't over yet. In fact, we're just getting started. We're not giving up."

The Istanbul Bar Association said that before Istanbul’s Pride march planned for June 29, four of its colleagues, including members of its human rights center designated as observers, along with more than 50 people, were deprived of their liberty by arbitrary, unjust and illegal detention.

The Istanbul governor Davut Gül warned on X that "These calls, which undermine social peace, the family structure and moral values, are banned."

Association STOP homophobie

A video posted on X by queer feminist scholars showed a protester singing: "We did not give up the fight, we came, we believed, we are here," as she and about a dozen others ran to avoid being arrested.

Le Monde with AFP reported that Taksim Square was cordoned off in the early hours of Sunday, and police arrested protesters near the central Ortaköy district earlier in the day.

Amid the crackdown, Amnesty International France said authorities harshly repressed Pride marches amid violence and restrictions, and it described how authorities resorted to unjustified and arbitrary force that, in some cases, amounted to torture.

“They gathered peacefully in the center of Istanbul”

Europe 1

Amnesty International France also said that across the country, arbitrary detention reached "at least 224 people" and that among those detained were lawyers, journalists and people who did not participate in the gatherings.

In Istanbul, STOP homophobie reported that riot police used tear gas, water cannons, and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd, and it said that by Sunday evening only seven people had been released while others remained in custody.

STOP homophobie quoted Kaos GL editor-in-chief Yıldız Tar saying "54 people were detained, including six lawyers" and added that the DISK trade union confederation said at least three journalists were among those arrested.