The Mojust Foundation condemns the raids, arrests, searches, seizures and access-blocking measures targeting LGBTI+ organisations, activists and human rights defenders in Türkiye on 12–13 September 2026. These measures target not only specific organisations, but also the rights to freedom of association and expression, access to information and solidarity.
The Turkish authorities have announced that legal proceedings have been initiated against 162 individuals, nine associations and 13 businesses. However, they have not disclosed the names of all the associations under investigation. Although serious allegations have been made in official statements, the authorities have not explained the specific acts or evidence on which those allegations are based in relation to each individual and organisation. Targeting different individuals and organisations collectively within the same operation risks equating LGBTI+ rights advocacy with criminal activity. The presumption of innocence must remain paramount in the absence of a final judgment.
Access-blocking decisions have targeted the websites or social media accounts of Kaos GL, Velvele, Boğaziçi University LGBTI+ Studies Club, Cinsel Eğitim Tedavi ve Araştırma Derneği, Özgür Renkler Derneği, Queer Adana, Bilkent University LGBTIQA+ Student Community, İnter Dayanışma, Cinsel Şiddetle Mücadele Derneği, İzmir LGBTİ+, LİSTAG, SPoD, Pembe Hayat, 17 Mayıs Derneği, Hacettepe Kuir Araştırmaları, HEVİ LGBTİ+ Derneği and İÜ Radar. Numerous personal accounts have also been included in these decisions.
Searches, seizures, arrests and access-blocking measures must be based on specific and individualised grounds of suspicion in relation to each person and organisation. They must also be necessary, proportionate and subject to effective judicial review. An association’s field of activity, publications and human rights work cannot in themselves constitute grounds for criminal suspicion. Blocking entire websites and social media accounts without distinguishing between individual items of content constitutes a serious interference with freedom of expression and association and creates a chilling effect.
The rhetoric of “protecting the family and children” cannot be used to portray the existence and rights of LGBTI+ people as a threat to society. Protecting children and families cannot be placed in opposition to the fundamental rights of LGBTI+ people. The state’s duty of protection includes protecting everyone—including LGBTI+ people and LGBTI+ children—from discrimination, violence and exclusion.
The targeted organisations are civil society organisations that have long documented discrimination and human rights violations, provided legal and social support, and created spaces of solidarity. Obstructing their work affects not only these organisations but also everyone who relies on them for support and access to justice.
We call on the Turkish authorities to release all those detained for their human rights work, lift disproportionate access restrictions, and end the stigmatising rhetoric and practices that associate LGBTI+ organisations and human rights defenders with criminality.
We stand with LGBTI+ organisations and human rights defenders and express our solidarity with their struggle for equality, freedom and a life of dignity.
LGBTI+ rights are human rights. Human rights advocacy is not a crime.
Mesopotamia Observatory of Justice – Mojust