On March 1st, we received alarming news from the Turkish LGBTQ+ organisation ÜniKuir stating that Yıldız Tar, a Turkish journalist and human rights defender, and trans activist Erkin, were arrested on February 18th, 2025, when Turkish Authorities arrested 52 journalists, human rights defenders, academics and opposition party members in a mass police raid, and are awaiting trial. According to KaosGL and the European Federation of Journalists, the detentions signal an escalating crackdown on activists, journalists, and civil society organizations and pose a disturbing threat to press freedom. We echo the powerful joint statement of KaosGL and other Turkish LGBTQI+ organizations: „We are not afraid, we are not silent, we defend the truth!“
Journalism is not a crime! LGBTIQ+ rights are human rights!
Yıldız Tar, the Editor-in-Chief of the LGBTQ+ publication KaosGL.org, has been accused of “membership in a terrorist organization” based solely on their journalistic work and advocacy for LGBTIQ+ rights. The so-called evidence against Tar consists of extensive surveillance records, including phone conversations dating back more than a decade. This arrest is part of a wider crackdown on press freedom and LGBTIQ+ activism in Türkiye, reflecting an alarming global trend of increasing repression against fundamental human rights and democracy. According to the 2024 European Press Freedom Report, Turkiye is among the top three countries where media freedom was violated.
After the arrests, draft law proposals from the Turkish government were leaked, revealing intent to criminalize gender and sexual diversity and silencing LGBTIQ+ voices under the government’s «Year of the Family» initiative.
This is a severe escalation of anti-LGBTIQ+ policies, institutionalizing discrimination under the guise of «protecting the family.» The developments mirror a disturbing global shift where queerness and queer activism is being criminalized, echoing similar laws in Russia, Hungary and Georgia. Proposed amendments to the Civil Code and Penal Code seek to impose prison sentences on those who “ act contrary to or encourage attitudes that contradict biological sex and public morality” and further restrict gender-affirming healthcare, creating a de facto ban on gender transition. Mandatory sterilization to change legal gender, which had previously been annulled by the Constitutional Court, and ban on public LGBTIQ+ advocacy are among the proposed legal changes. These laws are designed to erase LGBTIQ+ people from public life, suppress advocacy, and legitimize state-backed discrimination.
The arrests of Yıldız Tar and Erkin and anti-LGBTIQ+ legislative proposals cannot be considered as isolated incidents. They are direct attacks on human rights, press freedom, and the right to exist. Furthermore, they send a chilling message to all journalists, activists, and marginalized communities in Türkiye that freedom of expression will be met with repression. We live in a time when LGBTIQ+ rights and freedom of expression are under escalating threat worldwide. Now, more than ever, we must show solidarity. We stand together, we raise our voices, and we demand justice!
We call on the Turkish authorities to:
- Immediately and unconditionally release Yıldız Tar, Erkin and the other imprisoned human rights defenders and journalists
- End the criminalization of LGBTI+ individuals and repeal discriminatory laws.
- Cease the repression of press freedom, human rights defenders, and civil society organizations.
- Respect their international human rights legal obligations, including those enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Signed:
Fotokollasje. Bilde av Ghawgha: Cyril Bailleul, Nasim, foto: Morten Bjerk, Sabiha Baloch solidarity Movement, Moloud, foto privat.