Raids began in the early hours of Sunday 13 September, coordinated by the İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Aydın and Mersin chief public prosecutors’ offices with police and gendarmerie units. Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said judicial proceedings had been opened against 162 suspects, 9 associations and 13 companies across 15 provinces.
The stated charges are establishing an organisation to commit crimes, prostitution, obscenity, and possession or purchase of drugs for personal use.
Detention figures differ by source. The İstanbul prosecutor’s office reported 26 detained in searches at 38 addresses, 10 businesses and 6 LGBTI+ associations. The İstanbul Bar Association’s Human Rights Centre said it had confirmed 54 names, that those detained were being held at the Maslak Gendarmerie Command, and that each lawyer was permitted to see one person. Anadolu Agency, citing prosecutors in Ankara, İstanbul and İzmir, reported at least 63. No court decisions on remand had been reported at the time of writing.
Gürlek said the operations were conducted in line with President Erdoğan’s “2026–2035 Family and Population Decade” vision and Presidential Circular 2026/4, and described their purpose as protecting children, the institution of the family and social order. He said MASAK financial intelligence reports were being used to examine funds transferred to LGBTI+ associations from abroad.
The offices of Kaos GL, Turkey’s main LGBTI+ association, were searched and board members detained in raids on their homes. Kaos GL said that nearly 50 LGBTI+ rights defenders across the country had been detained or were subject to proceedings, and that judicial authorities in Ankara had alleged the association published obscene posts accessible to children.
The raids came a day after the X accounts of more than a dozen Turkish LGBTI+ organisations were blocked at the authorities’ request. Kaos GL’s website was blocked in June 2026 by a criminal judgeship of peace in İstanbul, and its Instagram account was blocked the same month. Its editor-in-chief, Yıldız Tar, was remanded in custody in June 2026 and released in July.
Nacho Sánchez Amor, the European Parliament’s standing rapporteur on Türkiye, described the raids on X as a shocking escalation in the repression. Özgül Saki, a DEM Party MP for İstanbul, said on X that existence cannot be banned.
Same-sex relations are not a criminal offence in Turkey. The operation applies criminal law on obscenity, prostitution and organised crime to registered associations whose stated purpose is defending LGBTI+ rights.
