LGBTI+ activists gathered outside Sincan Prison in Ankara to demand the release of fellow activists detained in a Sep 12 operation, marking one month since their imprisonment.
The protest was organized by the We Want Freedom Campaign, an initiative established after the crackdown, which saw 82 people jailed.
Explained: Turkey's 'My Family Is Safe' operations
'You cannot stop ourt struggle for existence'
Reading out a statement, the group noted that the crackdown coincided with the anniversary of the 1980 coup:
"We wish we could have gathered here today to welcome our friends. However, our LGBTI+ friends, who were taken from us exactly one month ago in an unlawful and oppressive operation by the AKP government, are still being held captive in Sincan Prison.
"The government, which chose to wage war against LGBTI+s and the LGBTI+ movement on the dark anniversary of Sep 12, cannot stop our struggle for existence. "Because we are part of everyday life. We are at school, at home, at work, in parliament, doing sex work, in other words, we are everywhere!"
Jailed trans rights activist Janset Kalan: Remember trans prisoners
The activists also commemorated Poyraz, a trans man who had died while imprisoned at Sincan Prison:
"Even if walls, barbed wire, prison guards, soldiers and police officers stand between us and our friends, even if the government mobilizes all its resources, we once again shout from outside Sincan Prison, where you killed transgender prisoner Poyraz: Freedom for LGBTI+ prisoners!"
LGBTI+ detainees in Mersin prison report difficulties in accessing clothing, medication
'You cannot cover up your responsibility by imprisoning us'
The group also accused the government of attempting to deflect responsibility for broader social problems by targeting the LGBTI+ community:
"You, not us, have a hand in the deaths of child workers at MESEMs, the transfer of public resources to capital through funds, femicides and rising violence in schools.
"You cannot cover up your responsibility by imprisoning us. We shout once again: We are not the guilty ones, you are!"
"Despite all the repression, we will continue to struggle together for an equal and free life. We will take our friends back from your machinery of oppression and your prisons!"
The demonstration ended with chants of "Everywhere is a prison, we want freedom" and "Long live our feminist solidarity."
How Turkey’s vague obscenity law is becoming a tool to criminalize LGBTI+ visibility
(NÖ/VK)