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Turkey bans gay pride parade in Istanbul, citing security


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A large rainbow flag adorns a side of the United States consulate in Istanbul, Turkey on June 14. (Lefteris Pitarakis /Associated Press)


The governor of the Turkish city of Istanbul has banned gay, lesbian and transgender individuals from holding pride parades at their usual venue, citing security concerns.


The governor’s office said Friday that marches departing from Istanbul's iconic Taksim Square would not be allowed "for the safety of our citizens and the participants."


The LGBT community has called for demonstrations on Sunday and June 26, bookending pride week.

Turkish Islamist and nationalist groups have threatened countermarches to stop the parade from taking place.


The governor's office has said other locations for demonstrations have been previously designated.

Istanbul's pride parade has been celebrated every year since 2003 with participants converging in Taksim.


Last year, the march was banned and police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowds.



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This has nothing to do with Turkeys EU process

Look at other EU countries and the gay problems there.

Anyway,

since 2 years the gay pride cannot be hold in Istanbul. One reason is due to Ramadan, the other one of Erdogans government.

I participated 2 years ago, and there were over 100.000 people on Istiklal Street. We we cheering, singing and having just fun.

After the pride, there were many partys at small clubs, which were really nice.

I hope we can party again there.
Last year my friend was hurt by the police. We just reported them and try to go to the ECHR.

The Beyoglu district is the most modern and toleant district in Istanbul and noone can and will change it.

Even where I live, in Cihangir, yesterday happened something horrible. Stil those retarded fashists will not win over us.

Some Impressions from 2014 :D

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2013pride1.jpg

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On the contrary, they should do it because of this. Surrender to ISIS is not the solution.

It's not just IS ( poor goddess Isis :( ) that they have to deal with. It's Erdogan's regime. How can they lead something like this, with such government?

Let's face it Turkey is not Western Europe and is corrupted.

And another thing, if you look at the gay pride calendar different cities do them at different dates. If it's Ramadan then they should move it to another month.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/istanbul-lgbt-rally_us_57670041e4b015db1bc9b401?section=

Istanbul Police Violently Disperse Banned LGBT Rally Police fired tear gas and rubber pellets on a march for transgender people.
06/19/2016 04:44 pm ET
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OZAN KOSE via Getty Images
A woman reacts after tear gas was fired at the LGBT rally in Istanbul.

ISTANBUL, June 19 (Reuters) - Istanbul riot police fired tear gas and rubber pellets on Sunday to disperse a march for transgender people banned after ultra-nationalists said that “degenerates” could not demonstrate.

Hundreds of riot police cordoned off the city’s main Taksim Square to prevent the “Trans Pride” rally taking place during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Authorities have banned transgender and gay pride marches this month, citing security concerns after the ultra-nationalist warnings against any such events on Turkish soil.

“Football fans can rally in this country whenever they want. We were going to do a peaceful activity,” said Ebru Kiranci, spokesperson of the Istanbul LGBTI Solidarity Association.

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OZAN KOSE via Getty Images
A woman holding rainbow flag look on as Turkish anti-riot police officers fire rubber bullets to disperse demonstrators.

“(The) holy month of Ramadan is an excuse. If you are going to respect Ramadan, respect us too. The heterosexuals think it’s too much for us, only 2 hours in 365 days,” she said.

The annual gay pride parade, described as the biggest in the Muslim world, was due to take place on June 26. Istanbul has held gay pride parades since 2003, attracting tens of thousands of marchers, but last year’s was broken up by police.

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OZAN KOSE/Getty Images
A Turkish anti-riot police officer steps on a rainbow flag during a rally staged by the LGBT community.

Although the Turkish republic is constitutionally secular, the vast majority of the population is Muslim.

Tayyip Erdogan, who became president in 2014 after 11 years as prime minister, has steadily boosted the power of the head of state’s office with appeals to conservative nationalist and religious-minded Turks.

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OZAN KOSE via Getty Images
Several hundred police surrounded the main Taksim Square — where all demonstrations have been banned since 2013 — to prevent the ‘Trans Pride’ event taking place.

This has effectively shifted Turkey from a parliamentary to a presidential system even before Erdogan seeks to amend the constitution through a referendum to make that official.

Unlike many other Muslim countries, homosexuality is not a crime in Turkey but hostility toward gays remains widespread. Critics say Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party have shown little interest in expanding rights for minorities, gays and women, and are intolerant of dissent.

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OZAN KOSE/Getty Images
Demonstrators run as police forcibly disperse the rally.

The assault by the riot police targeted protesters angered by an attack on a record store launching the new Radiohead album on Saturday.

A group of men armed with sticks and bottles attacked the store late on Friday, apparently in protest at people drinking beer during Ramadan, video footage on social media showed.

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Guest Rachelle of London

and they want to be part of EU

To be fair a lot of Eastern European EU countries have the same attitudes towards gay people.

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Yes Bulgaria is conservative and member of EU but yesterday there was a pride. There is external pressure to respect lgbt rights including from EU. A year ago European court on human rights pretty much forced Italy to adopt registered partnership via a decision. Similar thing can happen for the Eastern Eu counties. Turkey is however on a dangerous road of becoming more conservative and homophobic and Islamic and it won't end well.

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To be fair a lot of Eastern European EU countries have the same attitudes towards gay people.

Yes I know that. And I think this is terrible.

These country should get more pressure to respect LGBT rights and to stop the discrimination.

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To be fair a lot of Eastern European EU countries have the same attitudes towards gay people.

some are even more worse than Turkey, but anyway when it comes to Turkey, everyone is an expert on that, lol

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