• More than 50 people were detained by Turkish police during a banned Pride march in Istanbul.
• Pride events have been banned since 2015, citing threats to public order and family values.
• The Turkish government, led by President Erdogan, has intensified its rhetoric against the LGBTQ+ community.

In Istanbul, police detained over 50 people on June 29 while trying to participate in a banned LGBTQ+ Pride march, a clear indicator of the ongoing crackdown against similar events in Turkey. The Istanbul Bar's Human Rights Centre noted that among those detained were members of their staff, who were subjected to “arbitrary, unjust, and illegal” detention, according to Reuters and Le Monde.

The Istanbul Governor had declared the Pride march unlawful, arguing it would "undermine social peace, family structure, and moral values." This stance aligns with the government's long-standing view of such events as dangerous, which has led to their ban since 2015, further complicating the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals in Turkey. Activists captured footage showing police clashing with demonstrators holding rainbow flags, highlighting the tense atmosphere, as reported by India Times and Le Monde.

President Erdogan has increasingly adopted harsh rhetoric against the LGBTQ+ community, labeling them a threat to traditional family values and stating that policies against gender neutralization aim to protect the sanctity of the family. Echoing this, Kezban Konukcu, a lawmaker from the opposition DEM Party, remarked that the government cannot sustain power by demonizing the LGBTQ+ community, illustrating the political context of the crackdown, according to Reuters, India Times, and Le Monde.