Police blockade entire Beyoğlu district, detain Trans Pride March participants with excessive force

Duvar English

Turkish police on June 18 blockaded Istanbul’s entire Beyoğlu district due to the Trans Pride March organized by LGBTI+ activists. The governor's office closed the subway stations leading to Beyoğlu and police set up barricades on all roads leading to Istanbul’s famous Taksim Square and İstiklal Avenue since early morning.

Trans activists decided to move the march to the nearby Şişli district when it became impossible to enter Beyoğlu. Some of the activists were able to gather in the area and issue a press release. 

The statement drew attention to the struggle of trans people who have been evicted from their homes and subjected to state violence on a daily basis and mentioned the escalating attacks since the last trans pride week in 2017. 

The trans activists emphasized the detrimental impact of the Feb. 6 Earthquakes on the community and added, “In this country where trans people die at the gates of shelters that reject their demand of refuge, trans deaths are of course political.” As trans activists continue to face state violence, they have expressed their solidarity with the Kurdish community, which remains oppressed under the current government's policies.

Nonetheless, the police and some shopkeepers from the district physically attacked the trans activists in the backstreets after the statement even though the district governor did not issue any public ban decision. The police detained at least eight people including one child using brute force. While some activists were dragged to the ground, some of them were forced to enter civilian vehicles by the police. It is illegal to carry detainees in an unofficial vehicle.

On the other hand, the police tried to prevent journalists from covering the detentions.

Green Left Party (YSP) Istanbul MP Özgül Saki and İzmir MP Burcugül Çubuk also attended the march. Saki said, “This struggle is not only the struggle of LGBTI+ people but of each and every one of us. We will all raise the struggle for equality and freedom."

Following the massive turnout of tens of thousands of people in the 2014 pride march in Istanbul, a distressing trend emerged. Since 2015, all subsequent pride marches have faced bans, and the LGBTI+ community gathering in the Beyoğlu district has been subjected to targeted police attacks.

During the June 2023, the pride month celebrated among the LGBTI+ community across the world, the Turkish authorities banned all events organized by the LGBTI+ groups in the country from film screening to tea-and-talk.