Turkey Detains Dozens, Opens Cases Against 162 in Crackdown on LGBTQ+ Groups

Turkish authorities detained at least 47 people over the weekend of September 12-13 and raided the offices of six LGBTQ+ associations, prosecutors said, according to Reuters. The Istanbul chief prosecutor's office said operations hit 12 provinces against 38 suspects, with 26 of them detained. Authorities seized drugs, digital equipment, smuggled alcohol and a firearm, Reuters reported.

A separate statement from the Ankara chief prosecutor's office added 21 more detentions tied to an investigation into the LGBTQ+ association Kaos GL, with five suspects still being sought, per Reuters. Kaos GL itself put the number higher, telling Reuters at least 50 activists were detained, including more than 10 taken from their homes.

Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said the broader legal effort, coordinated by prosecutors in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Aydin and Mersin, involves judicial proceedings against 162 suspects, nine associations and 13 businesses across 15 provinces, according to Reuters. That 162 figure is not the same as the detention count. It covers everyone named in the wider investigation, including businesses and associations facing legal action rather than individual arrest. Several outlets aggregated by Ground News, including a Washington Post wire pickup, used the 162 number as a headline figure without making that distinction clear.

The Government's Stated Rationale

The operation is officially named "My Family is Safe." Reuters reported it comes as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promotes a "Decade of Family and Population" initiative aimed at reversing Turkey's falling birth rate and aging population.

Prosecutors say the case rests on allegations of prostitution and obscenity. They told Reuters there is evidence that children and underage youths were being "inappropriately influenced" on matters of sexual orientation and gender identity. That is a prosecutorial allegation at this stage, not a court finding. No convictions have been reported, and the suspects have not yet had their case tested in a Turkish court.

Breitbart's coverage leaned into this framing, noting Turkey and Egypt separately blocked a Virgin Voyages cruise ship carrying roughly 2,000 gay passengers from their waters back in July, with a Turkish government statement at the time citing behavior that "does not align with the structure of our society and our moral values." Breitbart's piece did not mention the European Parliament's response to the current raids.

The Rights Groups' Objection

The Turkish Human Rights Association pushed back hard, saying on X: "The real name of this operation is not 'My Family is Safe'; it is state-led discrimination, politics of fear and the dismantling of civil society."

Nacho Sanchez Amor, the European Parliament's rapporteur on Turkey, went further, calling the raids "a shocking escalation" of repression and "a blatant violation of fundamental rights and Turkey's international commitments," per Reuters. Amor is a political appointee with an institutional interest in EU-Turkey relations, so his statement should be read as an EU Parliament position, not a neutral legal ruling.

Authorities also blocked access to dozens of websites and social media accounts tied to LGBTI+ organizations, activists and advocates, Reuters reported, with Ground News identifying Kaos GL and Lambdaistanbul among the platforms hit. Shutting down speech and association for adults, separate from any prosecutable crime like the drugs or firearm seized, is where this stops being a family-values argument and starts looking like straight censorship. Turkey is a NATO member and an EU candidate country that has bound itself to standards on due process and free expression. Blanket website blocks aimed at advocacy groups don't sit easily with either.

What's Actually in Dispute

The drugs, the firearm, the smuggled alcohol: those are concrete items seized and, if tied to specific individuals, are ordinary criminal matters regardless of who's involved. Nobody's defending drug trafficking or unlicensed firearms.

What's contested is the broader sweep: raiding association offices, blocking websites, and opening cases against nine organizations and 13 businesses on obscenity and morality grounds. Reuters' sourcing shows no independent verification, in these reports, of the prosecutors' claim that minors were being influenced on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Reuters and Breitbart both note Turkish police intervened at Izmir's Pride march on June 27, 2026, detaining at least 36 people. Whether the current 162-suspect investigation results in actual charges, or fizzles into dropped cases like some past Turkish morality prosecutions, will determine whether this is enforcement of real crimes or a broader campaign against LGBTQ+ civil society ahead of Turkey's next election cycle.