Tear Gas and Tradition: The Erdogan Regime's War on Turkey's LGBTQ Community The recent crackdown on pro LGBTQ protesters in Izmir by Turkish police is a stark reminder of the growing repression of minority groups under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rule.
Dozens were detained over the weekend as part of a nationwide campaign to promote traditional family values, which has become a euphemism for targeting LGBTQ activists.
Erdogan's "Decade of the Family" initiative is a thinly veiled attempt to suppress any behavior deemed deviant from the regime's narrow definition of acceptable conduct.