FEED: Turkish police detain 93 people during Istanbul LGBTI+ Pride March

Duvar English

The LGBTI+ community in Istanbul on June 25 came together to commemorate the end of the 31st Istanbul LGBTİ+ Pride Week with a pride march that took place in Şişli district.

Here is what happened hour by hour:

00.00 a.m.: The participants of Istanbul Pride March who were detained during the day began to be released. 

10.20 p.m.: The LGBTI+ activist hanged a rainbow flag on the Istanbul's famous Galata Tower. The Turkish government has been criminalizing rainbow symbol and police assaulted many pride march participants who carry objects with rainbow colors during the day.

09.30 p.m.: The organization committee announced that the police detained 93 people in total during the day. Most of the participants were subjected to brute force.

09.00 p.m.: The police detained some LGBTI+ individuals who were trying to go their homes in the Beyoğlu district's Cihangir neighborhood.

08.00 p.m.: Some 72 people were detained during Istanbul's pride march according to latest reports. Some of the detainees were taken to the Istanbul Police Headquarters.

05.30 p.m.: The LGBTI+ activist issued a press statement during the march and stated, "We are armed with the anger of the lubunyas (queer in Turkey's LGBTI+ slang) who are subjected to torture by the state and the police and we declare that our anger will burn you. We will not leave our streets, you will get used to us. Today we are here despite all your bans. We declare that our struggle will not fit into a single march, a single week, and we shout loudly that every march is a march of honor."

The activists stated that the LGBTI+ community was subjected to discrimination by the state even in the earthquake zone. "Along with the systematic attacks carried out by the government against the LGBTI+s, Kurds, women, refugees, prostitutes, workers; our lives are criminalized by the (ruling) People's Alliance. We are saying to those who left the Istanbul Convention overnight, to those who criminalize us: We will never submit to you! We will not give up our lives, our existences!" the group added.

05.25 p.m.: The police detained nearly 60 participants including two minors according to the organization committee.

04.50 p.m.: The police detained six people in the Beşiktaş district while they were sitting in a cafe on the grounds of the "violation of the law on demonstrations and marches."

03.40 p.m.: The police detained more than 30 participants according to the organization committee.

03.25 p.m: The riot police continue to blockade some of the participants and detained some. They tried to prevent journalist from taking footage and clear the street.

03.00 p.m. The LGBTI+ activists gathered in the Şişli district's Teşvikiye neighborhood and marched in there after it became impossible to enter the Beyoğlu district. The activists hanged a huge rainbow flag in a nearby parking lot. Police began to blockade some of the participants and journalists in the street where the march took place. 

02.50 p.m.: The organization committee changed the route of the pride march over the heavy blockade in the entire Beyoğlu district.

02.00 p.m: The Istanbul Pride March organization committee warned participants against possible attacks and advise them to stay in secure places until the march starts. One week ago, both police and some shopkeepers assaulted participants of the Trans Pride March.

12.00 p.m.: Istanbul Governor's Office closed all the subway stations in Beyoğlu district where the march has taken place in previous years from 10.00 a.m until further notice. Turkish police blockaded the entire Taksim Square and all the roads leading to İstiklal Avenue even though the governor's office did not decide to "officially" ban the pride march.