Joint statement on the Crackdown on LGBTQI+ organisations and young human rights defenders in Türkiye
The European Youth Forum stands in full solidarity with the LGBTQI+ organisations, activists and young human rights defenders targeted by coordinated search, raid and detention operations across Türkiye since the night of 12–13 September 2026.
Together with:
In at least 15 provinces, including Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Aydın and Mersin, Turkish authorities have raided the premises of LGBTQI+ associations, detained dozens of activists and association members, and initiated judicial proceedings against over 160 suspects, nine associations and 13 businesses. Altogether, more than 50 LGBTQI+ human rights defenders, association representatives and independent activists (many of them young people) were detained, turning peaceful civic action into a criminal offence. Many of the detained individuals have been arrested, with the rest released outright or under judicial control and a travel ban. Among those directly affected are member organisations of the Youth Organisations Forum - GoFor, a member of the European Youth Forum.
At the same time, Turkish courts have issued access-blocking orders against the websites and social media accounts of more than 180 LGBTQI+ organisations, media outlets, student groups and activists. Five of GoFor's own member organisations — Alikev, Amnesty International Türkiye, Kaos GL, UniQueer and Young LGBTQI+ — are among them, and GoFor's own X account was itself blocked by decree on 16 September, with its Instagram account named in the same decree though not yet enforced. This extends the repression into the digital sphere, denying thousands of young people their freedom of expression and access to information at a time when online spaces are essential for community, support and advocacy.
Demonstrations were held in several provinces against the operation, and in these demonstrations — where most participants were young people — several people were taken into custody, including 106 only in Istanbul. All of them have since been released, but the risk of charges being brought against them remains.
These measures effectively silence LGBTQI+ voices, cut off vital lines of communication and peer support, and punish young people for organising around equality and human rights. The European Youth Forum strongly condemns these operations as a direct assault on human rights and civil and political freedoms in Türkiye.
Framing these measures as “family protection” and “public morality” does not conceal their true effect: the systematic narrowing of the space in which LGBTQI+ young people can organise, speak out and hold power to account, in breach of their human rights to non-discrimination, dignity and participation in public life. These investigations reportedly centre in part on allegations that foreign funding was used to support the work of LGBTQI+ organisations. The European Youth Forum rejects the criminalisation of legitimate funding sources for civil society, including foreign funding, as a tool to delegitimise and dismantle youth and rights-based organisations. These actions are incompatible with Türkiye’s obligations to democracy, rule of law and human rights, and set a dangerous precedent for civil society across the region.
The European Youth Forum believes that all young people, including the LGBTQI+ youth, must be free to exist, organise and speak out without fear of raids, detention or censorship. The current crackdown in Türkiye violates this basic principle and raises serious concerns regarding freedom of association, freedom of expression, non-discrimination and meaningful participation in public life.
From a European perspective, there can be no justification for these actions. The European Youth Forum refuses to accept a reality in which LGBTQI+ youth, who already suffer exacerbated discrimination, must choose between their safety and their right to exist, organise and speak out.
The European Youth Forum calls on European and international institutions to demand the authorities in Türkiye to:
- Release all arrested activists and human rights defenders immediately and unconditionally, and lift judicial control and travel bans wrongfully forced upon activists.
- Lift all website and social media blocking orders affecting LGBTQI+ organisations, including GoFor and related accounts.
- Drop all charges and end all investigations that criminalise the work of LGBTQI+ organisations.
- End the practice of treating foreign funding as grounds for criminal investigation against civil society organisations.
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