Aliye Kavaf

LGBTI Kids Are Under Siege

Source: Yıldız Tar, “LGBTİ Çocuklar Kuşatma Altında,” (“LGBTI Kids Are Under Siege,”) kaosGL.org, 03 February 2014, http://kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=15743

In the panel hosted by the Education and Science Workers’ Union’s (Eğitim-Sen) Sixth Universities Branch in Istanbul last weekend, Ali Erol talked about the historical aspects of the discourse on sin, crime, and sickness; Remzi Altunpolat said, “Looking like the majority is presented as a virtue. LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex) students in the education system are made out to be bad, seductive, exogenous, and harmful;” and psychologist Yasemin Şafak said, “LGBTI kids grow up under siege.” This event was co-hosted by the Pink Life and Kaos GL associations within the Rainbow Coalition Against Discrimination Project.

Kaos GL and the Education and Science Workers’ Union (Eğitim-Sen) co-hosted a discussion “Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Education” at Eğitim-Sen’s  Sixth Universities Branch in Istanbul.

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The term “Gender Identity” cannot be removed from the “Commission for Equality and Fighting Against Discrimination’s Draft Statute”

Source: Kaos GL, “Ayrımcılıkla Mücadele ve Eşitlik Kurulu Kanun Tasarısı Taslağı’ndan “Cinsel Kimlik” İbaresi Çıkartılamaz!”, (“The term “Gender Identity” cannot be removed from the “Commission for Equality and Fighting Against Discrimination’s Draft Statute,”) 2 February 2012, http://www.kaosgldernegi.org/etkinlikdetay.php?id=7248

We have just learned that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) removed the term “gender identity” from the Commission for Equality and Fighting Against Discrimination’s Draft Statute.

We, the LGBT Associations who work on human rights for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans (LGBT) people in Turkey, demand the re-inclusion of the term “gender identity” to the draft statute of the Commission for Equality and Fighting Against Discrimination.

Removing the term “gender identity” from the draft statute, prepared in order to protect citizens against discrimination, is to legitimize the discrimination and human rights violations committed against LGBT people. The removal of “gender identity” shows us once again that the homophobic approach of the State Minister Aliye Kavaf who stated that “homosexuality is an illness,” reflects the AKP government’s politics.

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The Case of Ahmet Yıldız: Violation of the Right to Life

The case of Ahmet Yıldız was postponed to 7 July 2015, which will be the 20th hearing.

Source: Sosyal Politikalar, Cinsiyet Kimliği ve Cinsel Yönelim Çalışmaları Derneği. (Social Policies, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation Studies Association) LGBT Hak İhlalleri: Emsal Dava Analizleri (LGBT Rights Violations: Analysis of Cases.) Istanbul: Punto Baskı Çözümleri, 2013. Available at: http://www.spod.org.tr/turkce/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/emsal-dava-analizleri-son1.pdf

Subject of Investigation

The procedures of investigation and prosecution and whether these procedures have been conducted according to law and justice.

Scope of Investigation

Üsküdar First Higher Criminal Court for Aggravated Crimes File 2009/166

Procedures of Investigation

Ahmet Yıldız was killed by bullets from a firearm fired by his father on the night of 15 July 2008.

There is still no progress at the 13th hearing of the murder of Ahmet Yıldız.

Despite the fact that a red notice has been issued for the defendant’s father Y.Y., he has not been found.

The Incident

Ahmet Yıldız (b. 1982), the son of a family from Urfa, left his partner İbrahim Can at home and went out to get ice cream on the night of 15 July 2008. He was 26 when 5 bullets allegedly fired by his father Yahya Yıldız killed him. He was a senior in Marmara University’s Physics Department and was preparing for his last finals to complete his studies. Though he tried to get away from the aggressor by running to his car and starting it, he could not get far because of 3 injuries to his chest; he lost control of the steering wheel and crashed into a pharmacy’s wall. He died there. His corpse was not claimed by his family and was only received days later by his uncle at Yenibosna Forensic Medicine Institution.

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