Statement - Türkiye's escalating crackdown on LGBTI+ civil society calls for a clear response from the Committee of Ministers

LGBTI+ rights are human rights. LGBTI+ rights defenders are not criminals. 

The mass raids and detentions targeting LGBTI+ organisations and activists in Türkiye unfolding since Sunday mark a deeply alarming escalation in the authorities’ sustained crackdown on LGBTI+ civil society. 

These attacks come against a backdrop of increasing restrictions on LGBTI+ expression and assembly, criminal investigations and prosecutions, pressure on civil society organisations, and the use of “public morality” arguments to restrict legitimate LGBTI+ expression. 

Already in 2017, the European Court of Human Rights made clear in Kaos GL v. Türkiye that LGBTI-related expression is protected by the Convention. The Court found that the seizure and confiscation of all copies of a magazine published by Kaos GL, one of the LGBTI+ organisations targeted in Sunday’s raids, constituted a disproportionate interference with freedom of expression. Crucially, it rejected the authorities’ broad reliance on the protection of “public morals” to justify restrictions on expression concerning homosexuality and LGBTI+ issues. 

More than 9 years in a stalled implementation process, the situation keeps worsening, as the recent events starkly demonstrate. 

The Committee of Ministers is still awaiting information on developments in domestic case law, in particular concerning “obscenity” and LGBTI-related issues, and on whether the national courts are applying standards compatible with those established by the Court. It has also requested information on alternative preventive measures, the criteria domestic courts must apply before restricting freedom of expression on grounds of protecting “public morals”, and statistical data covering the past five years to provide a clearer picture of the current situation.  

Rules regarding public morality have become a systematic tool of repression by the government, and the current escalation demands a clear response from the Committee of Ministers. 

Today marks the first day of the Committee of Ministers’ 1569th Human Rights meeting, an opportunity for Council of Europe member States to raise this issue directly with the Turkish authorities. In this context, EIN echoes civil society call for the Committee of Ministers to consider transferring the the Kaos GL case under the enhanced supervision procedure. This is with a view to responding to the long-term inactivity of the Turkish authorities, which have, for close to a decade, failed to respond to the Committee of Ministers’ calls for the reforms required in the frame of the said case. This prolonged failure to act has allowed the abusive interpretation and application of the “public morals” ground by the Turkish judiciary, including the prosecution authorities, to persist, with a spillover effect into other areas, as evidenced by the recent, alarming events. 

The answer to the criminalisation of LGBTI+ civil society cannot be silence or delay. The Turkish authorities must protect the rights of those defending human rights and the Committee of Ministers must ensure that the Court’s judgments are implemented in practice. 

The European Implementation Network stands in solidarity with Kaos GL, our partners and the wider LGBTI+ movement in Türkiye.