Turkey’s Elections

LGBTI Political Participation & Representation

“We prioritise the topics society is sensitive about; therefore, we have cancelled the program”

After the Republican People’s Party (CHP) Beyoğlu Municipality Mayor Candidate Alper Taş mentioned “LGBTİ” during TV5’s program “the Matters in Question with Çağla Cilara”, the channel’s presenter was fired and the program was cancelled.

Source: “We prioritise the topics the society is sensitive about; therefore, we have cancelled the program” (Toplumsal hassasiyetleri önceleyeceğiz, programı yayından kaldırdık) Gözde Demirbilek, KaosGL, March 5, 2019

https://kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=27754&fbclid=IwAR310VJiERp3wzaEwtY0fSnnrPSKEpuVC7hTLmi78tsUdvjrHAbI1xyK180

Çağlar Cilara hosted the Republican People’s Party (CHP) Beyoğlu Municipality Mayor Candidate Alper Taş on the program “the Matters in Question” which he presented on TV channel 5, a channel founded by Necmettin Erbakan. During the program, he asked Taş the questions of the audience. In the previous days, Alper Taş had been a guest on the program “Human Rights Agenda” which lawyer Veysel Ok presents, and Taş had stated there “we will establish LGBTİ assemblies”. This statement of his was a topic of the program “the Matters in Question” as well. When Cilara asked questions about LGBTİ issues, Taş answered as follows:

“I stand by my words. Our LGBTİ citizens are our people. The majority of them live in Beyoğlu. They suffer from intense pressure and cruelty due to their sexual orientations, preferences. We will ensure them to live as a human because they are human. Their sexual orientation, identities are none of our business. We won’t look at their identities, we won’t look at their sexual orientation. We will look at whether or not there are citizens living in Beyoğlu, whether or not they are human. Starting from this, I as the municipality mayor candidate will follow their problems and solve the problems they revealed via their own assemblies, in order to help them to live in Beyoğlu without suffering from cruelty and pressure. The people do not become the way they are by specifically and consciously preferring it, it is something natural.”

The program’s presenter Çağlar Cilara replied him by saying “Yes, they were born this way”.

“There is a huge rage towards them as if they are not humans, not beings, not a part of the society. As a result, our thoughts are the same today as they were yesterday and there is no contradiction. We stand by the words we expressed for LGBTİ people. We will not take a single step back from it”, added Taş.

TV5 cancelled the program

After the questions about LGBTİ individuals had been asked, TV5 stated “We prioritise the topics society is sensitive about as well as those which are in line with our moral values, so we will continue broadcasting unwaveringly hereof.” declaring that they had separated ways with Çağlar Cilara and the program has been cancelled:

“The opinions and thoughts stated by Beyoğlu Municipality Mayor Candidate Alper Taş who was a guest on the program the Matters in Question with Çağlar Cilara represented his ideas. None of them are reflective of TV5.”

“One of the basic broadcasting principles of TV5 is to consider topics society is sensitive about as well as our moral values. Despite knowing our loyalty to this fact, trying to present these statements as if they reflect the general broadcasting policy of TV5 lacks fairness, morality, and understanding. As a channel that broadcasts many programs live on each day of the week with the slogan “everyone having a word to say” and hosts several guests of every opinion, not every agenda should be brought up as if it reflects TV5’s broadcasting policy. This attitude is clearly a operation to manipulate people’s perception.”

“However, TV5’s broadcasting board decided to cancel this program in order to prevent these perception operations, attempted before the elections. TV5 will continue broadcasting unwaveringly hereof. In future, just like in past TV5 will prioritise topics which society is sensitive about as well as those in line with our moral values. We kindly declare this to the public.

“I will keep asking, do not worry”

Cilara shared TV5’s statement while stating “My adventure at TV5 is over. The journalists in Turkey are torn between political polarisation, conflict, and noise. I asked my question, presented the news. I presented more than 3 thousand programs within 8 years. More than 10 thousand news articles were written from my programs.  Do not worry, I will keep asking questions.”

Hasan Atik: “I will represent our demand to live as equal citizens”

Hasan Atik, an LGBTI+ rights advocate running for a seat in the Turkish Parliament as the 4th candidate on the ballot list from the People’s Democratic Party answered Kaos GL’s questions.

Source: “Hasan Atik: ‘I will represent our demand to live as equal citizens’ “ (Hasan Atik: “Eşit yurttaşlık temelinde yaşam talebimizi dile getireceğim”), Yıldız Tar, kaosgl.org, May 27,2018, http://kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=25904

How did you decide to become a candidate? Was your candidacy as a gay politician in HDP supported?

I have assumed duties in various levels of HDP. In every position I have worked in complete harmony with my party and my colleagues. HDP exists in all colors. When I decided to apply for the candidacy, my fellow party members supported me both at the centre of the party and in local branches and they continue to support me.

You are running for a seat in the parliament from a place which will not elect you. Yet, as far as we know, you are the only open gay candidate. What are your plans for the election campaigns?

It was my request to be a candidate from Edirne. I believe I can be more beneficial for my party in Edirne. No member of HDP is in this election just for a seat, we care about our party. I will continue rights advocacy during the election campaign. I will continue to work for equal citizenship not only for one identity but for all identities. For me, my candidacy is not a means to an end but the end itself; the aim for equal and free citizenship for all peoples of Turkey.

Unfortunately, we live in a country where LGBTI+ rights are not maintained. As an MP candidate, what are your demands regarding the LGBTI+ rights?

Our most urgent demand is the right to live. Equal citizenship, freedom, equality in access to accommodation and employment are also among are demands. I will fight for the legal recognition of hate crime. I will be a strong defender for our demand to live not underdiscrimination but under equal citizenship.

Aside from LGBTI+ rights advocacy, you also advocate  for HIV/AIDS related rights and give counseling on the matter. How will you carry this struggle of yours to political arena?

HIV/AIDS is a pressing matter in Turkey. The state does not have a preventive approach, aside from providing treatment. We will first fight to have sexual health training in the national education syllabi. Then we will educate the society against HIV-phobia. We will fight against stigmatization and discrimination, which are dominant tendencies in Turkey.

Our purpose is to ensure that the Turkish state belongs to everyone living inside our borders. We aim to govern this country by sharing our authority with all segments of the society, all peoples of Turkey. Together, we will rebuild Turkey into a more democratic and livable country. We will win.

 

Kaos GL: 5 LGBTI activists arrested for different reasons in April

5 LGBTI activists from Diyarbakır, Istanbul, and Izmir who carried out the “No” campaign against the constitutional change that was voted upon on April 16 and who protested the questionable outcome of the referendum were arrested for different reasons.

Source: “Nisan ayında 5 LGBTİ aktivisti farklı gerekçelerle tutuklandı” (“5 LGBTI activists arrested for different reasons in April”), Kaos GL, 25 April 2017, http://www.kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=23611

The referendum on constitutional changes has been voted upon but human rights violations have not stopped. Detentions and arrests directed at those who carried out the “No” campaign throughout the referendum period and pressure towards those who have brought attention to the possibility of a questionable outcome in the referendum and taken to the streets are ongoing.

LGBTI activists are also among those protesting the referendum results and the Supreme Electoral Council’s decision to count unsealed ballots as valid. Some were detained upon taking to the streets to draw attention to the irregularities of the referendum.

Istanbul: Two arrests on allegations of insulting the president

LGBTI activist Çağla was detained at a “No” demonstration organized on the evening of April 18 in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district. On April 22, she was arrested. Attorney Rozerin Seda Kip from SPoD LGBTI visited Çağla in prison. She reported what Çağla experienced to KaosGL.org as follows:

“She was arrested while the demonstration was still going on with the justification of insulting the president. She was the only person taken out of the group. There is no evidence to show that she carried out the crime of defamation in the police reports or file. While she was detained, an additional detention period was requested as part of the state of emergency. Ultimately she was arrested. We will object to this decision.”

Additionally, LGBTI+ [community] member and activist Nakka, who carried out the “No” campaign in Istanbul before the referendum, was detained with an accusation of insulting the president and was later arrested.

Izmir: Detention and arrest following referendum protest

Two LGBTI activists who joined a protest in Izmir following the referendum were also arrested with the allegation of insulting the president. Red Ocean LGBTI and Positive Resistance (Kızıl Okyanus LGBTİ ve Pozitif Direniş) member Asya Gökalp and an activist friend from Positive Resistance were detained in a dawn operation following the demonstration. Both were arrested.

Diyarbakır: Detention and arrest before the referendum

LGBTI activist Loren was arrested on April 13, being among those detained on April 4 in an operation directed at members of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (Ezilenlerin Sosyalist Partisi, ESP) who carried out the “No” campaign in Diyarbakır.

P24: Women, Feminists, and LGBTI+ in the lead-up to the Referendum

One week before the [Turkish Constitutional] Referendum [on April 16], we spoke with Kıvılcım Arat, an activist for the “Women Who Say No” platform, in which feminist and LGBTI+ groups partner, and one of the founders of the Eylül Cansın Home for Trans folk (Eylül Cansın was a 23-year old trans woman who committed suicide in Jan. 2015). We spoke about the importance of this year’s International Women’s Day on March 8, the achievements of the “No” campaign in Turkey, and the indispensability of taking opposition into the streets.

Source: Zeynep Koçak, “Referanduma doğru kadınlar, feministler ve LGBTI+” http://p24blog.org/soylesiler/2118/referanduma-dogru-kadinlar–feministler-ve-lgbti- , P24, April 08, 2017

Women, Feminists, and LGBTI+ in the lead-up to the Referendum
Kıvılcım Arat: “When we look at who held their ground following the July 15 coup attempt, we see that it is women.”

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Kıvılcım Arat is a graduate of Cumhuriyet University, where she studied Radio and Television Production. Since 2009, she has been working on sex workers’ and transgender rights. As an activist, she has taken an active role in organizing events for Trans PrideWeek, campaigns related to the Roşin Çiçek lawsuit, and many campaigns relating to hate crimes. She is currently on the executive board of the Istanbul LGBTI+ Solidarity Association and the current spokesperson for the Democratic Women’s Movement.

Let’s listen to Kıvılcım, why are we saying “No”?

In your opinion, how was March 8, the International Women’s day, this year? Do you see the night marches on İstiklal Avenue, the events at Bilgi University, or even the presence of a more defiant attitude towards the general pressures, as a call for rights? How do this year’s demonstrations compare to LGBTI+ and women’s marches of the past?

To answer this question, it is necessary to look at what happened on June 7 [parliamentary elections in 2015], and even more so what happened after the attempted coup on July 15 [2016]. Up until now, the Kurdish opposition in Turkey had the following characteristics: The opposition always held the streets, even if they lost ground or were pressured to leave. The opposition maintained their presence on the streets for control over policing, street surveillance, policy-making, and ultimately, the right to be there. However, after July 15, the palace-wielding AKP took a different direction: it mobilized its own masses and had them take over the streets in the name of democracy. It became clear to those who were watching that what happened on the Bosphorus Bridge served as a rehearsal for such a tactic. In the weeks following June 7, many marches that were organized to support democratic rights were blocked or delayed in some way. One of the most obvious examples of this was during Trans Pride Week. The governor declared the Trans Pride march illegal. Governor Vasıf Şahin even made a statement declaring that he would not be participating in the march, and would not respond to such a call. Following this statement, we, as the Trans Pride Week Commission, did not recognize the Governor’s prohibition, because it is undeniable that the women’s and especially the LGBTI+ movements’ place is in the streets. At this point in time, a campaign was launched. However, this episode showed us the hypocrisy of the state, which overwhelmingly aimed attacks of this nature at any social opposition.

We did not recognize the prohibition of the march, and we let the public know that anyone who wanted to join us in Taksim that we would be waiting for them there. After this, several paramilitary groups and jihadist factions tried to stop the march, calling on jihad to force the march to be cancelled. The Muslim Anatolian Youth and groups similar to them made a public statement that those who joined this jihad would go to heaven. The Grand Unity Party later joined in this call. Jihadists, shoulder-to-shoulder with the police and the state’s law enforcement officers, attacked those who were marching during Trans Pride Week. Due to my role as spokesperson, I have been targeted twice by such attacks. Many of our friends were wounded. One day before the march, a news story broke on mainstream media. According to the news, three ISIL militants who had been planning an attack on the march, were arrested. We filed petitions to be included in the case, however, unsurprisingly, the case was designated as top secret. They let us know that they would not be sharing any information about the arrest or plan of these three ISIL militants. As we saw, one week later, a police force of 20,000 joined us on Pride Week. There was a police officer every 20 meters.

The decision to bring in a police force of 20,000 against an unarmed group of marchers is hard to rationalize. Are they afraid?

These types of attacks have been carried out for years against groups that are unarmed and also that are protesting to secure individual rights and freedoms. At the time of these events, we spoke with the governor, and they said that they wanted to meet with us. We told them that if they did not intervene, there would be no threat to public security. We informed them that the only danger to the public and to the march would come from the presence of police forces. That being said, the results of these conversations don’t really change much in these situations.

After July 15, police presence and the tensions they cause became even more visible. When we look at who is holding their ground following the July 15 coup attempt, we see that it is women.

This March 8 came at a very important time, as many laws in the state were withdrawn, despite the state’s ongoing preparations for war and the extraordinary circumstances following July 15. We orchestrated many marches, like the International Struggle Against Violence Against Women and Awareness Day march on Nov. 25. In fact, due to the pressure and dissention of women’s platforms, we were able to bring back a draft to protect abused children from being married. At this point in time, women serve as an example of how to stand up and stake out one’s claim in society. That both the Feminist Night Walk and the daytime rally on March 8 could take place despite all of the security fears and the fact that the governor did not give permission until the last moment, make them very important.

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Should we be using LGBT or LGBTI+?

LGBTI+ is being used. There are, of course, debates in academic circles as well as in the international LGBTI+ lobbies surrounding the question of gender and sexual identity. For instance, there are many people who do not identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, intersex, or trans, and those who use different names to express themselves, or those who do not identify at all. To encompass all of these individual identities, that is to say those who identify as LGBTI and those who fall outside that scope (symbolized in the +), we use LGBTI+. Of course, as is often joked about by those in the LGBTI+ space, this was a good abbreviation in order to avoid taking all the letters of the alphabet and lining them up next to each other.

Some argue that the women’s movement, feminist movement, and LGBTI+ movement should not group their advocacy together, since they do not represent the same identities. What do you say to this?

I think this debate is a very vicious one. When we look at the historic and democratic scope of the LGBTI + movement in Turkey, there are many points that intersect and cooperate with these other movements. On many platforms, LGBTI+ and women act together. This is due to the fact that the obstacles both face stem from the gender binary system and the male and female models that this system has created. At this point, I think that LGBTI + should also be included in these type of demonstrations.

When it comes to this point of not being able to escape from this toxic masculinity, I can say this: today, many organizations, even those that define themselves as feminist organizations, also repeat and propagate this masculinity, even if this is done without realizing it, we can see that these norms are yet again enforced in our lives. For this reason, these norms must be discussed by those who express masculine identities, gay people who benefit from masculinity, and those who identify as male. In the end, three women are killed in Turkey every day by their closest relatives, such as their spouses, brothers, or neighbors; they are either killed or are subjected to violence by their communities. When we think about LGBTI+, the problem is also locked into masculinity. Today, the murder of trans women, hate crimes against them, their inability to live in the wider community, their inability to sell their bodies as they want, that they are condemned to a single job, brings us to the same common enemy: masculinity. If you have a shared enemy, your struggle, your combat ought to be combined.

How will we define how a person identifies? Will we recognize their gender based on what the state assigns to them? Will we validate this by looking at their sexual organs? This is not discussed in the conversation about trans folk anyway. If you look at the demonstrations outside, a gay man who is perhaps more feminine is shown more tolerance and is more easily accepted into the marches than a gay man who expresses a more heteronormative masculinity. After all, a person may have a beard, but we may not be able to identify them as male or female. Here, we rely on the individual’s self-identification. Today’s women’s and Feminist movements need to be inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity and queer struggle. The LGBTI+ movement has understood this and is well aware of this reality. In this line of thought, a person can identify as they wish, and others will refrain from assigning a gender identity to them, they won’t even guess at it. The women’s movement and Feminist movement need to think about this, discuss it, and incorporate this way of thinking into their own platforms.

Let me turn back to the solidarity struggle of domestic politics. Marriage is a creation that’s not looked at very fondly, especially by LGBTI+ people. It’s said that even if it has functional advantages, theoretically because it means “accepting the state,” individuals who are married cannot take a full place in the struggle.

This is a really sectarian view, and I think a very sectarian mindset. In the women’s movement, we don’t look from a place where we marginalize masculinity as a gender, or hold it outside of the struggle that we’ve established and that we envision. We envision a life where we are freed from masculinity, freed from domination, and freed from the roles imposed on us from the gender binary. That’s why a woman can definitely get married.

Look, today the LGBTI+ movement has something that it often argues: Alternative Family Organization. In the general societal view, society is first organized around families, and within this structure there is a head of the family and everything is organized around this head. In that house we children or women don’t have a right to speak or take part in any decision making. But if you’re going to establish an alternative to this, and you’re going to make a family constructed in an alternative sphere, then why not? In the end, humans are social beings, and we will have practices like uniting our lives with someone, living together.

I’ll give an example from myself. In the struggle platform that I’m part of, I’ve been criticized extensively about why I got married, how I could build this theoretical foundation for it, why I had children, why I agreed to bring the state into my own personal life. And because of this, I’ve been told that I can’t make any comments about this topic.

This is violence. Psychological violence. This is exactly what I was trying to say–you gave a great example. The violence that women implement against each other is also male and a violence that masculinity produces. Your body your choice; with whom, under what conditions and how you live your life is a decision that only you can make. Yes, the state does first use the family to organize around, and the family confirms the existence of the state, but the state is everywhere, and many rights can be had through the family, for example, the right to visit in hospitals, the right to inheritance. We’re already in a society organized around this. The feminist movement can criticize you only on this point: the way you practice marriage. A critique can be made about the way you reproduce the roles of women, take on everything yourself, or don’t realize division of labor in the home. Criticism beyond that it is no one’s right, you can marry ten times, you can marry twenty times, you can also never marry.

This is one of the biggest things that the Feminist Movement conflicts with Trans Women over: They’ve said that trans women reinforce feminine roles, that they recreate femininity, and that this does damage to the sex struggle. And they say this based on trans women being more dressed up, using makeup, paying attention to aesthetics and how they look. But then, they fail to see that the transition process is also a situation that has important consequences in terms of class politics, so they end up hurling unfounded criticism.

But all of these originate from our having been accustomed to having to compete and form dominance over each other since childhood. We can see the extension of this even in the alternative arenas that we create for ourselves.

Do you think the AKP has created a change in society and morality?

Ever since AKP came to singular power in the 2002 elections, they have placed dynamite underneath this society, and created lots of rupture. Even if the AKP power fell today, we’ll be living with the effects of these ruptures for many years. It really broke society into pieces.

Is that a bad thing? Wasn’t the society brought to existence by the Republic bad enough especially in their approach to minority groups and other struggles? Wasn’t it time for some of these moral and societal norms to be broken?

I was just going to say that. There’s one point that people miss. I’ll explain it like this: I have a memory I’ve created from my three identities. From the Alevi identity [minority Islamic belief, an offshoot of Shia Islam] it’s the Sivas, Çorum, Maraş and Dersim Massacre. From my Kurdish identity there’s Roboski, Cizre, you can find even more. The state-implemented mass murders and emptying of villages. And from my Trans identity I have a memory of Ulker street, Sormagir Street, Purtelas Street, and Süleyman the Hose. And these were all things created within today’s parliamentary system.

And if people resist this idea then I’ll say this: I think Kemalists and Islamists are twin brothers. They’re inside a contrived fight with each other. And when it comes time for it they change hands, when it comes time for it they act together. We can use the example of the 1999 Prisons massacre. At the head of that was Ecevit. Ecevit for a while, during the 1972 emergence of revolution, the 1968 generation and after 1980, was introduced to the people as a revolutionary folk leader. Yet when we look at the people he had murdered it’s revolutionaries, oppositionists, prisoners of the war of state violence.

Actually there’s no need to even go that far, we can see an example of this in very recent history. Let’s look at the revocation of the immunity of MPs belonging to [pro-Kurdish] Peoples’ Democratic Party [HDP]. CHP and AKP hand in hand revoked the immunity of those MPs. Today when we look at CHP leaders, they say: “We don’t find the detention of MPs correct.” Oh, okay brother, did you not know that when you were confirming the law? Didn’t you foresee that it would only be the HDP representatives that would be arrested, and that the rest would be invited on formality to testify and let go? If we look at the right-of-center agreements CHP makes with the government, or their joint operations and massacres, we see that they’re all staying in a place that benefits themselves. We can see it with their approach to the Armenian Genocide, the way in today’s constitutions they’ve left Alevis without laws and safety, that every year 38-40 women are killed, three women killed a day. When it comes to the state’s continuation – a word that’s being used a lot these days – Kemalists and Islamists link arms and quite openly act together.

Look, in the 2002 Youth View program Tayyip Erdoğan was saying that we have to find an answer to the needs of gay people. In the June 7 and Nov. 1 elections in 2015 he was in a rally in Diyarbakir with a Quran in his hand yelling we won’t have any gay candidates. We look in the 1990s, in Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s own words: Democracy is a trend, you get on and when it’s time to get off you get off, he said. Today he knows that the democracy train has come to its end. Because it’s going to be judged, he knows this now.

Recently the general manager of the state bank Halk Bank was arrested in the US. This is a clear message. The U.S. is saying, “We see what you’ve done as Halk Bank, and we know about many of the things that are accepted as crimes in the international arena, we see them.”

So, aren’t there going to be any differences as a result of the switch from the parliamentarian system to presidency? What exactly are we opposing here?

Yes this comes up a lot. I’ll explain why we are not opposing and discussing this issue in terms of a third alternative. We have the chance to have representation in the parliamentary system. Today, there is a social opposition which acts as an ally, and which has been won over as a result of the 20 plus years of LGBTI+ struggle. Today we have the chance to create public discussion relation to court cases, create social pressure, and get results in these cases. The Roşin Çiçek case is a very important example of this.

But in the presidential system we will no longer have such opportunities. If we want to see what a organization will bring, we need to look at its practices. Think of the law that was passed in the form of a decree: marrying children with people who have sexually assaulted them. The victim is being married to the perpetrator. They say that they need the state of emergency in order to fight against FETO and other terrorist organizations, but how does acquitting rapists fit in this? Or the physical attacks against that nurse who was in shorts and the pregnant woman at the park. All these are indicators of what AKP will bring.

What is the difference between this mentality of the AKP from previous governments in your opinion?

The current AKP mentality is different from that of the early decades of the Republic, in that it is similar to the mentality of the İttihat ve Terakki Party [the Committee of Union and Progress was an Ottoman party that began with a call for democratization and grew increasingly Jacobin]. It’s a legacy of the jeunes turks. The legacy of the jeunes turks has been passed on from generation to generation. We see the same massacre-driven purge-oriented politics in this government as the ones that were used against the Armenians, Assyrians, and Chaldeans in the past. The party deprived a lot of people from their professions. They also suspended the legal principle of individuality of crime and victimized their families as a form of collective punishment. They refrain from killing these people so they persecute them with unemployment and hunger. Mechanisms of oppression multiply, they confiscate private property. Today the facilities of IMC TV and the equipment of Hayat TV [independent TV channels that were shut down with a government decree during the state of emergency] have been turned over to TRT [state broadcaster]. These are all manifestations of the Turkish-Islamist mentality that lies at the basis of the Armenian Genocide.

In short, if the presidency system is accepted, we will sink into darkness for a period of time that will exceed our lifetime. It might last 20 years or 30 years. If the referendum results in a majority of no votes, the war [with the Kurdish rebels] can intensify. But, in that case, political struggle will be in the hands of social agents of opposition once again. What I mean to say is that the democratic culture of this land cannot be destroyed all at once. The culture [of coexistence] which the peoples of this land have created throughout history cannot be pushed aside. We are in a very critical transition period. I believe that the referendum will result in the rejection of the presidency system, but if it is accepted I will leave the country and I believe that many people are planning the same.

Any last remarks you want to make?

Yes, the path to reach our goals is through holding onto the streets and the opposition by building broad, inclusive alliances and spaces of struggle. We must close the ranks and strengthen our struggle. We must act with our conscience and meet each other in our pain and losses. We must not forget that the flames that burn people alive in buildings where they are trapped and the pain of murdered women is the same fire and that these are products of the same mentality. In this regard, we must continue to be inspired by historical leftists like Mustafa Suphi, Rosa Luxemburg, Kaypakkaya, Çayan, and Emma Goldman. We must produce alternative movements that can achieve equal treatment of different identities and we must intensify our struggle to create spaces of life for everyone.

List of LGBTI Rights Pledgers Chosen for Parliament in Turkey’s November 1 Elections

Source: “İşte Seçimde Meclise Giren LGBTİ Hakları Takipçişi Milletvekilleri” (“List of LGBTI Rights-Following Representatives Chosen for Parliament in Election”), Gzone, 2 November 2015, http://gzone.com.tr/iste-secimde-meclise-giren-lgbti-haklari-takipcisi-milletvekilleri/

LGBTI rights very rarely came to the forefront of the most recent election period. There were no openly identified LGBTI individuals on the candidate lists of any of the parties, but following yesterday’s election, there were some representatives chosen from among LGBTI rights-defending CHP and HDP representatives who had signed the LGBTI Rights Pledge.

As a result of the “LGBTIs in Parliament” campaign led by SPoD LGBTI with support from LGBTI activists from all over Turkey leading up to the June 7th 2015 general elections, 22 representatives from the CHP and HDP signed the LGBTI Rights Agreement upon being elected. After the November 1st repeat of the general election, 16 of these candidates were elected once again.

The full list of candidates as published by SPoD LGBTI is as follows:

  1. Aylin Nazlıaka CHP Ankara Representative
  2. Selin Sayek Böke CHP Izmir Representative
  3. Zeynep Altıok CHPIzmir Representative
  4. Musa Çam CHPIzmir Representative
  5. Oğuz Kaan Salıcı CHP Istanbul Representative
  6. İlhan Cihaner CHP Istanbul Representative
  7. Aykut Erdoğdu CHP Istanbul Representative
  8. Dursun Çiçek CHP Istanbul Representative
  9. Selina Doğan CHP Istanbul Representative
  10. Şafak Pavey CHP Istanbul Representative
  11. Enis Berberoğlu CHP Istanbul Representative
  12. Sezgin Tanrıkulu CHP Istanbul Representative
  13. Didem Engin CHP Istanbul Representative
  14. Erdal Ataş HDP Istanbul Representative
  15. Filiz Kerestecioğlu HDP Istanbul Representative
  16. Onursal Adıgüzel CHP Istanbul Representative

AKP Election Brochure Used 2014 Gay Pride during Ramadan as Example of Tolerance

In the wake of the 2015 General Elections, the Justice and Development Party [AKP or AK Party], Turkey’s ruling party, had issued an election brochure, claiming that the party line is one of tolerance of differences. The brochure had cited the peaceful 2014 Pride Parade as evidence: “Turkey is a country that can hold a Gay Pride on Istiklal Avenue even in the middle of the month of Ramadan. The increased visibility of conservative people does not carry the meaning that there is an intervention to people’s life styles.”

[Left-hand leaflet] People who are not from the AK Party [AKP- Justice and Development Party] and who are not conservative think there is an intervention to their life styles. Do you think you intervene in the life styles of people different than you? [Right-hand leaflet] AK Party has been in power for 13 years. It has solved the problems of the conservative segment, which brought it [the party] to power, only in the last 4 years after it even had to pull through the dangers of party closure. Turkey is a country that can hold a Gay Pride on Istiklal Avenue in the middle of the month of Ramadan. The increased visibility of conservative people does not carry the meaning that there is an intervention to people's life styles. Yes, now there is visibility of more people in head scarves and people who can practice their religion more comfortably because they were under pressure before. AK Party has never had and will never have the intention to intervene in anybody's life style. In the period of 13 years, there has only been a fight for the equality of wronged segments.

AKP’s 2015 General Elections Brochure.

[Left-hand leaflet]

“People who are not from the AK Party and who are not conservative believe that their life styles are being interfered with. Do you think you interfere in the life styles of people who are different than you?”

[Right-hand leaflet]

“AK Party has been in power for 13 years. Within the very first 4 years of its existence, it was able to solve the problems of the conservative segment, which brought [the party] to power, despite having to fight against threats of party closure.

“Turkey is a country that can hold a Gay Pride on Istiklal Avenue even in the middle of the month of Ramadan. The increased visibility of conservative people does not carry the meaning that there is an intervention against people’s life styles.

“Yes, now there is visibility of more people in head scarves and people who can practice their religion more comfortably because they were under pressure before.

“AK Party has never had and will never have the intention to interfere with anyone’s life style. In the period of 13 years, there has only been a fight for the equality of wronged segments.”

It is indeed true that LGBTI Pride Parades took place without incident for 12 years. The number of participants increased each year and the 2014 Pride Parade was attended by an estimated 90.000 people. However, the 13th LGBTI Pride Parade on 28 June 2015 was blocked by the governor and police used tear gas, water cannons, and plastic bullets to disperse the participants. The violence on Pride Parade came after weeks of homophobic statements by leading Justice and Development Party representatives and pro-government, conservative media.

Screenshot of a video where an armed police vehicle, TOMA, hits an LGBTI activist during the 2015 Pride Parade directly and with full force using a pressurized water cannon. Consequences can be deadly.

Screenshot from a video where an armed police vehicle, TOMA, is shown to hit an LGBTI activist during the 2015 Pride Parade directly and with full force using a pressurized water cannon. The cannon is powerful enough to permanently injure and even kill its targets. Source, with Full Video: Funda Eryiğit

22 MPs in Turkey’s New Parliament Will Support LGBTI Rights

64 candidates for parliament signed SPoD LGBTI’s LGBTI Rights Pledge ahead of the elections and promised to protect LGBT rights. The number of pledgers are expected to increase. 22 of the pledgers have won seats in the Parliament.

The candidates below will be entering Turkey’s 25th Parliament. They have pledged to work for LGBTI rights in Turkey.

Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP)

  1. Asiye Kolçak, MP for Bursa from HDP
  2. Çilem Öz, MP for Mersin from HDP
  3. Erdal Ataş, MP for Istanbul from HDP
  4. Filiz Kerestecioğlu, MP for Istanbul from HDP
  5. Ali Haydar Konca, MP for Kocaeli from HDP
  6. Remzi Özgökçe, MP for Van from HDP
  7. Selami Özyaşar, MP for Van from HDP

Republican People’s Party (CHP)

  1. Oğuz Kaan Salıcı, MP for Istanbul from CHP
  2. İlhan Cihaner, MP for Istanbul from CHP
  3. Aykut Erdoğdu, MP for Istanbul from CHP
  4. Dursun Çiçek, MP for Istanbul from CHP
  5. Didem Engin, MP for Istanbul from CHP
  6. Sezgin Tanrıkulu, MP for Istanbul from CHP
  7. Şafak Pavey, MP for Istanbul from CHP
  8. Zeynep Altıok, MP for Izmir from CHP
  9. Musa Çam, MP for Izmir from CHP
  10. Selin Sayek Böke, MP for Izmir from CHP
  11. Selina Doğan, MP for Istanbul from CHP
  12. Enis Berberoğlu, MP for Istanbul from CHP
  13. Aylin Nazlıaka, MP for Ankara from CHP
  14. Onursal Adıgüzel, MP for Istanbul from CHP
  15. Özcan Purçu, MP for Izmir from CHP

Please see the full list of pledgers below.

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Gender Distribution of Candidates in Party Nominations for the 2015 General Elections in Turkey

No Equality, No Justice!

The practice of the 10% election threshold blocks various social groups from being represented in the Parliament and invalidates the voters’ will. Political parties exacerbate the situation by excluding women.

Source: “Eşitlik Yoksa Adalet de Yoktur” (“No Equality, No Justice!”), Kadın Koalisyonu [Women’s Coalition], 19 May 2015, http://www.kadinkoalisyonu.org/yeni/esitlik-yoksa-adalet-de-yoktur/

The practice of the 10% election threshold blocks various social groups from being represented in the Parliament and invalidates the voters’ will. [In this system, political parties that receive less than 10% of the votes cannot join the parliament. For instance, in 2002, as a result of numerous parties failing to pass the threshold, more than 40% of the electorate (14+ million) ended up not being represented in the parliament. Instituted following the military coup of 1980, the threshold was and still is routinely used against parties that do not follow the traditional state lines such as Kurdish rights, and for a time, Islamists. –Trans.]

Political parties exacerbate the situation by excluding women. Of the 4 parties most likely to pass the threshold, it was only the HDP [Peoples’ Democratic Party] that came close to an equal male-female ratio with 45% women candidates. It was also the HDP that nominated women in all the cities of the nation except 3. [In contrast] The AKP [the ruling party, Justice and Development Party] did not nominate women in 37 cities, CHP [Republican People’s Party] in 41 cities, and MHP [Nationalist Movement Party] in 51 cities. Yet, these are parties that have been in the parliament for years and that have been receiving election funding.

Women are everywhere. Yet women are absent in political party nominee lists! We will give neither our votes nor our affirmation to those parties that do not nominate women! We will vote for those who take steps towards equality, liberty, and justice.

Gender Equality in MP Candidacies

In total, only 26.6% of the candidates are women.

In terms of the percentage of women candidates they nominated for the 2015 General Election, the Communist Party came in 1st with 100%, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) came in second with 45%, and the People’s Liberation Party and Anatolia Party shared the 3rd place with 34% each. Of these political parties, only the HDP has a group in Parliament.

women-candidates-per-political-party.png

[Among the political parties most likely to pass the 10% threshold, only women nominations by the HDP’s exceeded 20%. HDP is currently not the main opposition party in Turkey.]

women-candidates-per-popular-political-party.png

[Candidates’ chances of being elected decrease significantly when they are not nominated from the first rank of their party. These chances decrease even more if their name is not included in the second rank. Only 9% of women candidates are nominated for the first list by the CHP, MHP, HDP, and AKP combined (pie chart on the left). 14% are nominated from the second list (pie chart in the middle). 77% of the women candidates, i.e. 402 candidates from the CHP, MHP, HDP, and AKP are nominated from neither the first nor from the second list (pie chart on the right).]

women-candidates-per-list-priority.png

The percentage of women candidates did not to surpass 30% in Turkey’s 72 electoral districts!

Political Parties and Independents Number of Women Candidates Percentage of Women Candidates Total Number of Candidates Number of Electoral Districts
The Right Path Party 86 25.07% 343 56
Anatolia Party 189 34.36% 550 85
Rights and Liberties Party 122 25.26% 483 75
Communist Party 550 100.00% 550 85
Community Party 104 18.91% 550 85
Right and Justice Party 29 19.73% 147 43
Center Party 98 20.25% 484 73
Social Negotiation and Development Party 91 25.93% 351 55
People’s Liberation Party 195 35.45% 550 85
Liberal Democrat Party 86 21.03% 409 58
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) 67 12.18% 550 85
People’s Democratic Party (HDP) 249 45.27% 550 85
Peace Party 42 7.64% 550 85
Republican People’s Party (CHP) 107 19.45% 550 85
Justice and Development Party (AKP) 100 18.18% 550 85
Democratic Leftist Party 117 21.27% 550 85
Nation’s [Yurt] Party 67 20.36% 329 56
Democrat Party 76 13.82% 550 85
Nation’s [Vatan] Party 137 24.91% 550 85
Independent Turkey Party 98 17.82% 550 85
Independent Candidates 15 9.09% 165 46
Total 2625 26.62% 9861

On the 2015 General Elections and the Data

The 2015 Parliamentary Election will be conducted in 81 cities, with a total of 85 electoral districts. 20 political parties formally registered 9,696 candidates with the Supreme Committee of Elections, in addition to the 165 registered independent candidates. These candidacies were published in the Supreme Committee of Elections website. In addition to the lack of categorization of candidates by gender in political party websites, the Supreme Committee of Elections itself has no awareness of gender with regards to the nominations. As such, in order to obtain a 99% reliability rate, whenever in doubt, we researched candidates online and attempted to confirm our findings with the limited number of parties that showed the sensibility to share their data with us.

 

Update 08 June 2015: According to Lambdaistanbul, women obtained 98 parliamentary seats out of the 550 in Turkey’s June 07 2015 General Elections. Accordingly, the rate of representation of women in Turkey’s Parliament increased by %3.5 from the 24th Parliament, elected in 2011, to 17.8%. In contrast, women constituted 49.82% of Turkey’s population according to the 2014 results of the Address Based Population Registration System.

 


Translator’s Note: The figures provided in this text have been prepared by LGBTI News Turkey volunteers in the course of the Turkish-English translation of the source text for translation purposes using the raw data provided by the source text. These figures are released under a CC-BY-SA license.

Hate speech against LGBTI by the Milli Irade Platformu

Hate speech against LGBTI by the Milli Irade Platformu, a pro-government platform of civil society organizations: “Our morality is our value. The people does not forgive those who pushes forward homosexual perversion onto the people as if it were a legitimate act. To legitimize the publicization of sin is an assassination against the values of this people. This initiative will fail yet again with The People’s Will.” (Scroll down for a list of organizations allegedly supporting this statement.)

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The Campaign Against Homosexuality in Turkey’s Elections

Only days before Turkey’s upcoming parliamentary elections, unknown gunmen shot at the campaign office of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in the early morning hours of June 2 in Eskisehir, a city in northwest Turkey. More than 100 attacks have been carried out against election offices of the HDP, a left-wing and pro-Kurdish party, during this campaign season, according to Dicle News Agency. [1] Though no one was hurt in the Eskisehir attack, the HDP’s openly gay candidate Baris Sulu, who runs his campaign from that office, left the city over safety concerns.

Sulu has been receiving threats since he declared his candidacy for the HDP nomination in February. A seasoned activist, Sulu says he joined the HDP because the party supported rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and intersex (LGBTI) people even at its nascent stage as the Peoples’ Democratic Congress in 2011. Sulu’s candidacy is highly notable in a conservative country where prejudice and harassment against LGBTI people is a fact of daily life. The number of threats rose in April with his official nomination but the dramatic increase came in May when pro-government media outlets started targeting him.

Pro-government Sabah and Star daily newspapers have called Sulu’s campaign “vile propaganda,” criticizing his tweets such as “recognize our sexual orientation” and for wanting “people to react normally to men kissing.” [23] The Turkish daily newspaper Yeni Akit, infamous for its attacks on LGBTI people, published blurred photographs of Sulu and his partner kissing under the title “Immoral prostitution images of the HDP’s perverted candidate revealed!” [4] The article was quickly reposted by other media outlets and social media users, which escalated the online threats.

In Turkey, media attacks often go hand-in-hand with similar statements from elected officials. President Erdogan, who has led the campaign for the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) despite the fact that his position calls for neutrality, lambasted the HDP on May 28 at a meeting in Ankara. “We don’t nominate so-called religious scholars in Diyarbakir [a pre-dominantly Kurdish city in Turkey’s southeast] and homosexuals in Eskisehir,” Erdogan said in reference to what he sees as the HDP’s pandering to opposing sensitivities of different regions of the country. [5]

Following Erdogan’s statements, two parliamentary hopefuls from the AKP, in an effort to garner votes from religiously conservative Kurds, have criticized the HDP for nominating an openly gay candidate, arguing that homosexuality cannot be reconciled with Islam.

At a campaign stop in the southeastern province of Siirt, AKP candidate Yasin Aktay criticized the HDP’s nominations and said, “You are the child of a Muslim. The Kurds are Muslim and if there are, excuse me, 3 homosexuals on the list of Muslims who defend man’s marriage to man, then I will ask you ‘who are you?’” Aktay concluded that “it is impossible for Muslim society to affirm a man’s marriage to a man.” [6]

Former Interior Minister and AKP candidate Efkan Ala expressed fear that the HDP would give gays and lesbians “all sorts of rights” such as the recognition of same-sex marriages. Speaking to his “Kurdish brothers” on a Turkish news channel, Ala said, “We are against such things that our morality and our traditions reject.” He warned his listeners “the tribe of Lot was destroyed because of this; this is the destruction of humanity,” referring to the Biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah, a trope often used against LGBT communities in the Muslim world. [7]

Sulu says that after each public speech, he has received threats on Twitter from AK trolls, supporters of the AKP who launch large-scale smear campaigns on social media. They called him a pervert “who will burn in hell.” He blocks at least 10 accounts every day, but “systematic swearing, insults, and threats continue to come to all of my social media accounts,” Sulu said.

Sulu believes that Erdogan’s statement in 2002 that “homosexuals must also be given legal protection for their rights and freedoms” was only to appear sympathetic to the EU. [8] Now at the brink of losing a significant number of parliamentary seats to the HDP, “all their hidden fears, all the times they were being disingenuous, are coming out to the surface,” in the shape of homophobia. President Erdogan confirmed this at a June 3 rally in the eastern province of Bingol, when he said, “The Armenian lobby, homosexuals and those who believe in ‘Alevism without Ali’ – all these representatives of sedition are [the HDP’s] benefactors.” [9]

Sulu is last on the list of 6 HDP candidates in Eskisehir and, thus, unlikely to be elected into office. However, the nomination of an openly gay man for parliament is highly notable in Turkey, where 87 percent of respondents to Bahcesehir University’s 2012 survey, “Turkish Values Atlas,” said they do not want gay neighbors. [10] Since 2010, 47 individuals have been killed due to their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. [11] In May alone there were 5 assaults on transgender individuals in Istanbul. [12]

The HDP’s nomination of an openly gay candidate has created campaign fodder for the AKP. While singling out Sulu could prove dangerous for the candidate, he remains hopeful. “If we as LGBTIs are taken so seriously, then we must be succeeding in our twenty year rights struggle,” Sulu said.

Zeynep Bilginsoy is a freelance journalist based in Istanbul. She’s also the founder and project manager of LGBTI News Turkey, an English translation resource on LGBTI issues in Turkey.

57 Candidates for Parliament Promise to Protect LGBTI Rights

Edit 09 June 2015: See the following link for an updated list of candidates who signed the LGBTI Rights Pledge, along with the 21 who entered Turkey’s 25th parliament.

SPoD Logo

57 candidates for parliament signed SPoD LGBTI’s LGBTI Rights Pledge ahead of the elections and promised to protect LGBT rights. 

57 candidates for parliament from Malatya, Edirne, Izmir, Ankara, and Istanbul have signed the Social Policies, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Studies Association’s (SPoD) LGBTI Rights Pledge ahead of the June 7 parliamentary elections. Among the signatories are Aylin Nazlıaka, Enis Berberoğlu, Sezgin Tanrıkulu, Filiz Kerestecioğlu, Melda Onur, Pınar Aydınlar, Şafak Pavey, and Musa Çam who say that they LGBTIs are not alone in their struggle.

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Turkey’s Former Minister of Interior: ‘Gay marriage is the destruction of humanity’

The former Minister of Interior and current candidate for parliament running with the AKP [Turkey’s ruling party] from Erzurum, opposed gay marriage on TGRT TV News program and said that “the tribe of Lot” was destroyed because of this.

Source: “Efkan Ala da hedef gösterme peşinde: Eşcinsel evlilik insanlığın helakıdır” (“Efkan Ala is also intent on pointing people out as targets: ‘Gay marriage is the destruction of humanity’”), Birgün, 2 June 2015, http://www.birgun.net/haber-detay/efkan-ala-da-hedef-gosterme-pesinde-escinsel-evlilik-insanligin-helakidir-82104.html

The former Minister of Interior and current candidate for parliament running with the AKP [Turkey’s ruling party] from Erzurum, opposed gay marriage on TGRT TV News program and said that “the tribe of Lot” was destroyed because of this.

Pointing Barış Sulu, the HDP’s Eskişehir LGBTI MP candidate, as a target[1], he said:

“For God’s sake, look at these candidates that the HDP put forth. I can’t even bring myself to say it. They have put forth candidates that our citizen [sic] cannot accept.”

Efkan Ala continued:

“Our Kurdish brothers are religious people. For God’s sake, look at these candidates that the HDP put forth. I can’t even bring myself to say it. They have put forth candidates that our citizen [sic] cannot accept. I mean let me say this, they have put forth a transvestite candidate. They put forth homosexuals as candidates. In its election declaration, the HDP says that these [sic] will be afforded all sorts of rights, of the right of a man to marry and be with a man and of the right of a woman to marry and be with a woman. We are saying that we are against such things on topics that our morality our tradition rejects. What is this, a man marrying a man, a woman marrying a woman. The tribe of Lot was destroyed because of this[1]. That is, this is the destruction of humanity.”


[1] Turkey has a history of political violence, hate crimes, and political assassinations that followed a governmental authority figure and/or mainstream media singling out a person or a group out as rightfully injurable with impunity. -Trans.

Istanbul LGBTT Activist: “Assailants say ‘you can murder fags, there is no penalty for that’”

7 trans women were assaulted in Istanbul in the last month. Kıvılcım Arat of Istanbul LGBTI said: “It is the government, which avoids producing legislation [against hate crimes] and which issues press statements that point people out as targets, who is responsible for the increase in assaults.”

Source: Çiçek Tahaoğlu, “Saldırganlar ‘İbne Öldürmenin Cezası Yok’ Diyor” (“Assailants say ‘you can murder fags, there is no penalty for that’”), Bianet, 1 June 2015, http://www.bianet.org/bianet/lgbti/164977-saldirganlar-ibne-oldurmenin-cezasi-yok-diyor

7 trans women were assaulted in Istanbul in the last month [May 2015].

Some assaults occurred out of nowhere while women were walking on the street, some occurred in women’s homes. Other trans women who heard that trans women have been assaulted rushed to the hospitals and waited outside the ER in solidarity, even when they did not know the victim.

Yet, the attacks continue and very few of the women apply to rights organizations regarding what they experienced and initiate legal procedures.

Istanbul LGBTI [sic- correct name Istanbul LGBTT], one of the organizations working for trans rights, reported that only three trans women applied [for support] following the attacks. Two of them did not continue the necessary legal procedures afterwards; one is waiting for her recovery.

Why is it that these women, who struggle for their lives every day, do not engage in a legal struggle? Kıvılcım Arat, member of the board of directors of Istanbul LGBTI [sic], responded to this question: “Because they do not trust the judiciary.”

“They are reluctant [to pursue cases] because they do not trust the judiciary. Activists need to intervene at that stage. Unfortunately, that is not always possible.”

Arat tied the high number of assaults during the month to the statements by government authorities. While they have avoided issuing statements regarding LGBTIs up until now, government authorities have begun bringing the issue to the forefront as the elections are approaching. Arat reminds us of the statements by President Erdoğan, “We do not put forth homosexual candidates,” and by Prime Minister Davutoğlu, “Homosexuals caused the destruction of the tribe of Lot.”

“Ever since the HDP [which has an LGBTI candidate and actively campaigns for LGBTI rights -Trans.] started its election campaign, the statements by government authorities about LGBTIs have been encouraging people to commit hate crimes. Recently, following the statement by the President, two trans women were assaulted.”

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AKP’s Yasin Aktay Criticizes the HDP for Gay Candidates

Dr. Yasin Aktay [of Turkey’s ruling party AKP] went after the HDP using its gay candidates and said “it is impossible for Muslim society to affirm man’s marriage to man.”

Source: Suat Bilim, “Prof. Dr. Aktay, Pervari de HDP’ye Yüklendi” (“Dr. Aktay goes after the HDP at Pervari”), Onedio, 30 May 2015, http://onedio.com/haber/prof-dr-aktay-pervari-de-hdp-ye-yuklendi-517675

Yasin Aktay[1], the AKP’s Deputy Chairman and MP candidate for Siirt, spoke to Pervarians as part of his election campaign and, referring to the HDP’s gay candidates, said “it is impossible for Muslim society to affirm man’s marriage to man.”

Aktay, who told that his party’s candidate list also includes candidates of Armenian, Alevi, and many other backgrounds and that the AKP is the party for all sects living in this country, said:

“But if talk about we the Kurds and fill your [candidate] list with elements [sic] that Kurds cannot accept, they will ask you who are you [sic]. Above all you are a child of the Muslim and Kurds are Muslim and if Muslims has three homosexual people, people who defend men’s marriage with men in their list, I will ask you who are you [sic]. You are not one of us we do not recognize man’s marriage with man. And I do not know a Kurd who will accept something like this. They were saying that the Turkish State assimilated Kurds but there exists no bigger assimilation than this. You have transformed the Kurd’s [sic] belief and language into something else and now will you change the Kurd’s [sic] sexuality too? Firstly the Kurdish society is a Muslim society. It is impossible for the Muslim society to affirm man’s marriage to man.”

Onedio’s Disclaimer: “This content is listed only on the profile of the user who created it. This content has been produced by a user who is a member of Onedio and has not been intervened by Onedio editors.”


[1] Yasin Aktay is AKP’s Foreign Affairs Deputy Chairman. According to his profile at AKP’s website, he received his PhD from METU’s Department of Sociology in 1997 and is currently employed at Yıldırım Beyazıt University’s Department of Sociology. He was previously seen on a leaked video clip from May 2015, claiming that Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency was carrying weapons to the Free Syrian Army (FSA). -Trans

Yeni Akit: Support for Homos by the CHP and the HDP

The Republican People’s Party (CHP) and People’s Democratic Party (HDP) had their homo love rekindled. The CHP and the HDP, which had previously listed homosexual candidates for the June 7th general elections, now are also signatories to a campaign for homosexuals’ ugly demands.

Source: Hüseyin Kulaoğlu, “CHP ve HDP’den homo’lara destek” (“Support for Homos by the CHP and the HDP”), Yeni Akit, 27 May 2015, http://goo.gl/5eeI6f

chp-ve-hdpden-homolara-destek-h1432665300

The Republican People’s Party (CHP) and People’s Democratic Party (HDP) had their homo love rekindled. The CHP and the HDP, which had previously listed homosexual candidates for the June 7th general elections, now are also signatories to a campaign for homosexuals’ ugly demands. 39 [sic] MP candidates, with prominent names such as Enis Berberoğlu, Şafak Pavey, and Elif Bulut, have become signatories to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex (LGBTI) Rights Pledge that was organized by the Social Policies, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Studies Association (SPoD).

Şafak Pavey, the CHP’s MP candidate for Istanbul, reported that she will continue defending LGBTI rights as she did before and that she will carry the responsibilities brought on by this signature with honor.[1]

On the other hand, Musa Çam, the CHP’s Izmir 1st Region MP candidate, claimed that LGBTI rights are the most basic human rights and said “We will do everything we can for LGBTIs.”

HDP Candidates: Homosexuals are not alone

Sevda Özer and Ali Haydar Konca, MP candidates for Kocaeli from the HDP, reported in their statement following their signature of the pledge that LGBTI individuals are not alone in this struggle and that anyone who finds guidance in liberties should support this struggle.[1]

That pledge has the following signatories:

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