Turkish riot police fire tear gas at activists who gathered for Pride march

Riot police in Turkey fired tear gas and beat some of the LGBTI activists who gathered for a Pride march in Istanbul on Sunday – despite authorities banning the event for the fourth year in a row.

Around 1,000 people gathered near Istiklal Avenue and Taksim Square where organisers had wanted to originally hold the parade.

They chanted slogans and waved rainbow flags on side streets along Istiklal Avenue, Istanbul’s main pedestrian thoroughfare.

But they were forced to move from street to street for an hour as police tried to end an event the local government had banned for the fourth year in a row.

Riot police beats a LGBT rights activist who gathered for the Pride event in Istanbul on Sunday

The activists unfolded a large rainbow flag while a press statement was read out amid heavy security in the area, saying the city’s ban would not deter them from marching peacefully.

Police allowed the organisers to read the statement despite the ban.

‘We do not recognise this ban,’ the group said in the statement read out loud by a volunteer, calling the prohibition imposed by Istanbul’s governor ‘comical.’ 

But police told the crowd to disperse after the statement, warning ‘otherwise, we will intervene.’ 

Officers patrolled with dogs and had water cannons stationed nearby.

They fired tear gas on groups in some areas and were seen elsewhere pushing and shouting at participants who were too slow to scatter.

Police scuffle with activists as they try to end an event the local government had banned for the fourth year in a row

Police officers with dogs walk in the streets of Istanbul on Sunday to disperse LGBTI activists

Riot police walk through a street after dispersing LGBTI supporters in Istanbul, Turkey

Around 1,000 people gathered on a street near Istiklal Avenue and Taksim Square where organisers wanted to originally hold the parade

Organisers defied the order and marched through Istanbul’s streets before being met and dispersed by police units and police K9 dog units

They also used rubber bullets against some who tried to access Istiklal Avenue. 

While police tried to disperse Sunday’s march, participants kept reassembling in clusters in different parts of the city’s Taksim district, chanting: ‘Don’t be silent, shout out, homosexuals exist.’

Another activist read from the statement that the march organisers also circulated online and said: ‘We miss the marches attended by thousands where we celebrate our visibility.’ 

Amnesty International’s Turkey researcher Andrew Gardner said on Twitter: ‘100s of police throughout the Taksim area to stop the Istanbul Pride taking place but creative and courageous Pride participants sidestep the ban and read their press statement at a back street spontaneous protest.’ 

March organisers said Friday that the governor had prohibited the march in violation of the right to freedom of assembly.

The annual rally is the most important LGBTI event in a Muslim country in the region. 

A LGBT rights activist carries a flag in rainbow colors as people gathered for the event Sunday

Turkey’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex activists marched despite the ban in Istanbul

A man looks at the crowd as LGBT rights activists take part in a Pride march on Sunday

The governor has cited security reasons and public ‘sensitivities’ as grounds for barring LGBTI marches since 2015.

Prior to that, Turkish authorities had allowed pride marches since the first one took place in 2003. As many as 100,000 people attended Istanbul Pride in 2014.

The Istanbul governorate told the organisers that officials ‘could not take steps to secure their safety and did not find it appropriate for the Pride Walk to take place’, according to a statement from Istanbul LGBT+ Pride Week on Facebook late Friday.

The Istanbul governor’s office issued no public statement about the event.

‘The governor cited the excuse of security in its decision to ban the march and in one word, this is comical. Our marches went on peacefully without being banned for 13 years,’ the organisers said in a press statement on Facebook hours before the march.

‘We LGBTI+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex) are here with our pride despite all vain attempts to prevent us and we do not recognise this ban,’ they added.

Police warned activists to disperse but used rubber bullets against some who tried to access Istiklal Avenue

Riot policemen fired tear gas on groups in some areas during the Pride event in Istanbul

They were seen elsewhere pushing and shouting at participants who were too slow to scatter

On Thursday, the governor in Turkey’s capital city of Ankara, citing the need to protect ‘public order,’ banned a screening of ‘Pride,’ a Golden Globe-nominated film about gay activists in the UK.

The prohibition on the movie followed a blanket ban issued in November on LGBTI events in Ankara. Gay rights groups said they would take legal action against the order. 

Although homosexuality and being transgender are not illegal in Turkey, LGBTI people face discrimination and hate crimes.

Yasemin Oz, an activist and lawyer, said transgender and gay people were ‘ostracised and discriminated against’ in accessing education, health care and employment.

A police officer shouts at the LGBT activists, as a banner with a portrait of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seen behind

Police officers follow Turkey’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex activists as they march despite a ban

Gay Pride marches are taking place across the world to promote LGBTI rights and condemn discrimination and violence toward LGBTI people

LGBT supporters run from police after the LGBTI Pride March was banned for the fourth time

The governor has cited security reasons and public ‘sensitivities’ as grounds for barring LGBTI marches since 2015

LGBTI individuals need to ‘go out to the streets, show themselves, say ‘we are here, we are among you,” if they want acceptance, Oz Said.

The Turkish government denies that individuals are discriminated against based on gender identity or sexual orientation and says current laws are sufficient to protect the rights of every citizen.

The government says perpetrators of anti-LGBTI hate crimes are prosecuted.

Turkey has been under a state of emergency for nearly two years following a failed coup attempt, which allows authorities to curtail some freedoms.

 

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