Turkish authorities arrest over 50 people ahead of Pride march in Istanbul

Turkish flag bunting (Image: Engin Akyurt from Pixabay)

Over 50 people were arrested in Istanbul, Turkey, on Sunday (29 June) ahead of a banned LGBTQ+ Pride march, according to reports.

Among those detained were four lawyers from the Istanbul Bar Association’s Human Rights Centre, who called the detentions “arbitrary, unjust, and illegal.”

“Arbitrary, unjust, and illegal detention”

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), a rep for the organisation wrote: “Before today’s Istanbul Pride march, four of our colleagues, including members of our Human Rights Centre, along with more than 50 people, were deprived of their liberty through arbitrary, unjust, and illegal detention.”

Istanbul Pride has been banned since 2015 under Turkey’s conservative government, which cites threats to “social peace, family structure, and moral values.”

Despite homosexuality not being criminalised in Turkey,

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