Turkish President says there’s ‘no so such thing as LGBT’ amid protests
"This country is… moral, and it will walk to the future with these values."
Words: Jamie Tabberer; picture Wikimedia
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said there is “no such thing as LGBT” as queer student protesters and allies rally in Istanbul.
The anti-gay politician has also called the demonstrators “terrorists”, as police arrested protestors this week.
Erdoğan is the leader of the Justice and Development Party.
“The LGBT, there is no such thing”
During a televised address on Wednesday, Erdoğan said: “The LGBT, there is no such thing.
As reported by Reuters, he added: “This country is… moral, and it will walk to the future with these values.”
Students and teachers have for weeks been defying a government ban and protesting against Erdogan’s appointment of Professor Melih Bulu as head of Istanbul’s Boğaziç Uni on 1 January 2021. The uni has been closed throughout January.
Bulu is a former district mayor and parliamentary candidate for Erdogan’s AK Party. Protestors have called his appointment undemocratic and a sign of the government’s grip on public life and academia.
The latest scenes follow activists last week hanging a poster of the Kaaba in Mecca, Islam’s holiest site, draped in a rainbow flag, outside Bulu’s office.
Students arrested Saturday were accused of “inciting hatred”, and the uni’s LGBT society has been closed.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu has furthermore called the four arrested on Saturday “LGBT deviants” on Twitter, prompting the platform to add a rare warning to his comment.
Some 159 were detained on Monday. Activity then moved to the Asian side of the city, where riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protestors, according to reports.
On Wednesday, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the country is concerned about the demos and condemns the anti-LGBTQ rhetoric around them.
Homosexuality is legal in Turkey, but LGBTQs face significant legal and social challenges. The Istanbul Pride march, for example, was banned in the country from 2015 to 2019.