LGBTQI+ rights groups had called for an unauthorized protest march in the Eurasian country’s main city.
Istanbul’s governor’s office on Sunday banned the 22nd Pride March and ordered the city centre to be closed to prevent the gathering of what it called “illegal groups”.
The Pride march will not be allowed, the office of Governor Davut Gül, who is not elected but appointed by Turkey’s conservative Islamic government, announced without further explanation.
LGBTQI+ rights groups had called for an unauthorized protest march in the Eurasian country’s main city.
But the area around the central Taksim Square was closed to traffic, with police controlling pedestrian traffic and erecting barriers.
Although same-sex relations are not banned in Turkey, Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has tried for years to prevent the annual Pride parade from taking place, and last year dozens of people were arrested at unauthorised marches.
This Sunday, the Pride Week Committee shared on social media a series of recommendations for LGBTQ+ people who want to participate in the Istanbul Pride Parade despite everything.
The Committee recommended that participants bring their “identity documents, paper and pen to document any possible detention process, and a telephone to record any possible violation of rights.”
Source: Observadora
