Riot police in Turkey use rubber bullets and water cannon to disperse crowds at Istanbul's 13th LGBTI Pride Parade.
For residents of Istanbul, the LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) Pride Parade is a familiar sight. But attendees at the Turkish city’s 13th annual march were forcibly prevented from celebrating.
Turkey is like that today. A little rights request receives this reaction.
Riot police used water cannon and rubber bullets to disperse crowds at the 2015 Gay Pride festival. Media reports suggest the march was stopped before it started when crowds began to denounce Turkey’s Conservative President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Police use teargas and rubber bullets at Istanbul Pride http://t.co/jT5WyrNRUkpic.twitter.com/0rxefvRRhs
— PinkNews (@pinknews) June 28, 2015Police are believed to have arrested at least five parade-goers.
Journalists covering the event say they were assaulted and lightly injured by a group of civilians, who appeared to be nationalists and Islamists. AFP news agency reports the police appeared not to flinch when the alleged attacks took place.
Shot from #Istanbul today #ErdoganLost via @selfmachinepic.twitter.com/Ur8o5nvmMZ
— IrmakYenisehirlioglu (@Irmak_Ye) June 28, 2015One man at the scene was angry at the treatment parade-goers received.
“These people don’t want anything, just a status,” he said. “They’re not throwing stones or Molotov cocktails… But you have seen the police reaction. Turkey is like that today. A little rights request receives this reaction.”
#Turkish police crack down on Gay #Pride in Istanbul http://t.co/9OVg3WkUNDpic.twitter.com/KLeVMTu7gC
— Hurriyet Daily News (@HDNER) June 28, 2015According to eyewitnesses, the police seemed intent on preventing the crowd from gathering near Taksim Square – a known rallying ground at the centre of weeks of unrest in 2013.
All gatherings in and around the square were outlawed shortly afterwards.
Homophobia remains deeply rooted among parts of the conservative country’s population. While homosexuality is not illegal in Turkey, in 2010, the then Prime Minister Erdogan’s Minister for Family and Women labelled it a “disease” that “needs to be treated.”
