Turkish regime attacks Pride demonstrators

Translated from BELGA news agency, 1 July 2018:

Police stop Gay Pride in Istanbul

The Turkish riot police on Sunday in Istanbul cracked down on hundreds of people who planned to take part in a Gay Pride march. Tear gas was used to disperse people.

The local authorities also this year decided to ban the Gay Pride for security reasons. It is the fourth year in a row that the organization of Gay Pride in Istanbul is being stopped.

Yet hundreds of people, with banners and rainbow flags, had gone to the Istiklal shopping street to take part in the parade.

The police, however, succeeded in preventing the passage of the LGBTQ activists, eg, by blocking streets with water cannons. With the help of tear gas, batons and police dogs, the participants in the Gay Pride were subsequently pushed back. According to the activists, the police also used rubber bullets for that action.

‘The governor once again has committed a crime by discriminating against a specific group of society’, the organizers react in a statement on Sunday.

Turkey is one of few countries in the Middle East that does not prohibit homosexuality. But violence against LGBTQ people has increased significantly in recent years.

Bugün Berlin'de İstanbul'la aynı saatte İstanbul Pride ile dayanışma eylemi gerçekleşti. Alışın her yerdeyiz! 🌈 pic.twitter.com/4eQld1pXMe

— İstanbul LGBTİ+ Onur Haftası (@istanbulpride) July 1, 2018