A gaggle of LGBTQ+ protesters held an impromptu demonstration in Istanbul on Sunday after the governor’s workplace banned an annual Satisfaction March.
A press release by the Istanbul governor’s workplace stated that it would not enable “varied unlawful teams” to carry the unauthorized march and fenced off Istanbul’s central Taksim Sq. and Istiklal Avenue, the place Satisfaction marches normally happen.
The annual Satisfaction March has been banned in Istanbul since 2015, however demonstrators nonetheless collect in Taksim and Istiklal yearly and conflict with authorities. To avoid the ban, a bunch of greater than 100 folks gathered within the Suadiye neighborhood throughout city.
The demonstrators waved rainbow flags and skim a press release, earlier than rapidly dispersing when police arrived. The Istanbul Satisfaction Committee stated that there have been “unconfirmed” stories of a minimum of 15 protesters being detained.
Photos on social media confirmed protesters holding delight flags and calling for an finish to “polarisation” and anti-LGBTQ+ language utilized by Turkish politicians.
Turkey beforehand was one of many few Muslim-majority international locations to permit Satisfaction marches. The primary was held in 2003, the 12 months after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s celebration got here to energy.
Lately, the federal government has adopted a harsh strategy to public occasions by teams that do not signify its religiously conservative views.