Tag Archives: Istanbul

Deutsche Welle reports: Riot police in Istanbul fired tear gas and blocked streets during a march in support of LGBT+ rights, detaining 25 people including prominent AFP photographer Bulent Kilic. The march participants comprised several civil society groups that gathered under the motto “the street is ours.” Footage and photos of demonstrators showed some being pushed and dragged by riot …

Deutsche Welle reports: Police pushed back crowds celebrating Istanbul’s 17th gay pride march on Sunday, an event Turkish authorities had banned for the fifth year in a row. The rally, on a side street off Istanbul’s main pedestrian avenue, drew several hundred people who cheered and waved rainbow flags. Chants of “shoulder to shoulder against fascism” and “we will not …

The Telegraph reports: Gay rights groups and activists pressed ahead with the Istanbul Pride parade on Sunday despite Turkish authorities banning the event for a fourth year in a row. Around 1,000 people gathered near the city’s famous Istiklal Avenue and Taksim Square where organisers had wanted to originally hold the parade. The activists unfolded a large rainbow flag while …

NBC News reports: Activists gathered for gay Pride in Istanbul Sunday in defiance of a ban by authorities, and despite riot police who used tear gas to disperse crowds. Dozens turned up to wave rainbow flags and LGBT banners, watched by much larger numbers of Turkish riot officers as well as far-right protesters. There were more than two dozen arrests, …

Reuters reports: Istanbul’s governor has banned a gay and transgender pride march which was due to take place in the city on Sunday, citing security concerns after threats from an ultra-nationalist group. It will be the second year running that Istanbul’s LGBT march, described in the past as the biggest in the Muslim world, has been blocked by city authorities. …

Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News reports: The Alperen Hearths, an ultra-nationalist youth organization linked to right-wing nationalist Great Union Party (BBP), has threatened the LGBT Pride March set to take place on June 25 in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, vowing to prevent the march from taking place. “If the state allows it, we will not. We will not allow them to walk. …

Because some idiot walked away from his suitcase. Gothamist reports: JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark airports are tightening security today, following yesterday’s suicide bombing at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport that left 41 dead and over 230 injured. So far, the Port Authority has sent armored trucks loaded with tactical weapons to patrol outside area airports, and JFK’s Terminal 5 was briefly shut …

CNN reports: At least 28 people have been killed and 60 others wounded in the attack on Istanbul Ataturk Airport in Turkey, according to Turkey’s semi-official news agency Anadolu. The report says six of the wounded are in a critical condition. A total of 49 ambulances were sent to the site. Turkey’s Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag earlier said at least …

Last year it was batons and water cannons. This year it was tear gas and rubber bullets. The Guardian reports: Riot police have fired teargas and rubber pellets to disperse an LBGT march in Istanbul that had been banned after ultranationalists said “degenerates” could not demonstrate. Hundreds of riot police cordoned off Taksim Square in the heart of the city …

J. Lester Feder reports at Buzzfeed: The governor of Istanbul announced Friday that pride events scheduled to begin on Sunday have been banned. “The organization of a meeting and demonstration march on the mentioned dates will not be allowed by our governorate for the safety of our citizens, first and foremost the participants’, and for public order,” said a press …

On Sunday, police attacked Istanbul Pride attendees with tear gas, water cannons, and rubber bullets, reportedly because the event fell during Ramadan. Yesterday about two dozen Mexican activists protested the attack with a demonstration outside the Turkish embassy in Mexico City. JMG reader Alex sends us his photos, noting, “A prayer for Ramadan was performed by a Muslim woman. She …

Al Jazeera reports: Turkish police have fired water cannon and rubber pellets to disperse a crowd gathered in central Istanbul for the city’s annual gay pride parade. The police appeared intent on stopping the crowd gathering near Taksim Square on Sunday, a cameraman for the Reuters news agency reported. Al Jazeera’s Serpil Karacan, reporting from Istanbul, said opposition members of …

Via the Independent: Turkish protesters have taken to the streets of Istanbul after men in Turkey and neighbouring Azerbaijan tweeted images of themselves in skirts as a protest against the death of a young female student. The brutal death of 20-year-old Ozgecan Aslan on 11 February provoked a widespread reaction on social media – which has unusually translated into physical …

Via Aydinlik Daily: More than 100, 000 people gathered in Istiklal Avenue in Istanbul to celebrate the 22th Pride Parade for the LGBT community on the 29 June, under some strict security measures by the police who blocked the roads to Taksim Square and Gezi Park with water cannons since early morning. Community members, as well their families and loved …

An Istanbul court has contradicted previous Turkish rulings by declaring that gay sex is “natural” and should be respected.  The decision comes, interestingly, from the prosecution of a man who was caught selling gay porn. Via Gay Star News: Yesterday’s ruling regarded a trader who was caught selling 125 DVDs of gay and group sex porn. The person, known only …