Türkiye: Judicial harassment of journalists intensifies amid crackdown on LGBTI+ community

On 13 September, journalist Tuğba Tekerek was detained and transferred to Ankara over an article she had published in 2024 concerning the LGBTI+ movement in Georgia. Her detention is part of a wave of raids and arrests carried out by the Turkish authorities targeting LGBTI+ activists, organisations and human rights defenders. The International and the European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) join their affiliates, DİSK Basın-İş and Türkiye Gazeteciler Sendikası (TGS), in condemning the arbitrary detention and intimidation of journalists for covering LGBTI+ issues and call for their immediate release. The federations underline that LGBTI+ rights are human rights, and fair reporting on LGBTI+ issues is a matter of representation and journalistic ethics.

People gather outside Istanbul's courthouse behind a banner reading "Being LGBT+ and organising are not a crime. Credit: Ozan Kose / AFP.

On 13 September, journalist Tuğba Tekerek was detained and transferred to Ankara for questioning by prosecutors, regarding an allegation of 'obscenity' under Article 226 of the Turkish Penal Code. This was in relation to an article she had published in 2024 on the Kaos GL news site, operated by one of Türkiye's oldest LGBTI+ advocacy groups, about the LGBTI+ movement in Georgia.

Tekerek was detained as part of the 'My Family is Safe' investigations, announced by the Ministry of Justice on 13 September, which targeted LGBTI+ associations and venues. In the framework of this operation, legal proceedings were initiated against 162 people, nine associations and 13 businesses, according to the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA).

On 15 September, citizens gathered in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir to protest against raids by the authorities on LGBTI+ rights organisations. The police broke up these gatherings and detained two reporters, who were covering a protest in front of the Istanbul Courthouse: Sarya Toprak, a BirGün newspaper reporter and a member of the Journalists' Union of Türkiye (TGS), and Şener Azak, an ARD TV reporter.

Toprak was released on the night of 16 September, together with 105 people that had been arrested recently.

Since the LGBTI+ community crackdown began, authorities have imposed access restrictions on hundreds of social media accounts.

The IFJ and the EFJ stated: "We strongly condemn the Turkish government's latest crackdown on LGBTI organisations and activists, which violates fundamental freedoms, including the rights to freedom of association and expression. Our colleague Tuğba Tekerek and all other media professionals unjustly detained in the country must be released immediately. For years, the Turkish authorities have used harassment, intimidation, and the judicial system to silence critical journalists, and this repression must end now. Journalism is not a crime."

The situation in Türkiye is ongoing, and the IFJ and EFJ are monitoring it closely in coordination with their affiliates.