By Nergis Demirkaya
Before me is the “LGBTQ+ Rights Monitoring Report” on the 2023 elections, prepared by University Queer Research and LGBT+ Solidarity Association (ÜniKuir) whose website was blocked as part of the “My Family Is Safe” operation.
According to the report, the 139 speeches President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered during the election campaign contained “57 instances of hostile, targeting, discriminatory or hateful rhetoric directed at LGBTQ+ people.” Stressing that “protecting the family is our priority,” Erdoğan describes LGBTQ+ people as “deviant movements threatening the family” and vows to fight them to the bitter end. Erdoğan has maintained this rhetoric throughout the three years since the election.
SUPPORTED BY CONSERVATIVE PARTIES
Opposition to LGBTQ+ people has been a prominent theme in right-wing conservative populist politics in recent years. There are plenty of examples. Hungary’s former Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who lost power in the latest election, made numerous remarks on the subject that inspired Erdoğan. Naturally, such hostility also finds a receptive audience among conservative voters in an overwhelmingly Muslim country such as Turkey. One need only look at the pro-government media. The latest operation against LGBTQ+ people was greeted with unequivocally supportive headlines such as “Major Police Cleanup: LGBTQ+ Dens Dismantled,” “Deviant Gays’ Dens Raided,” and “Foreign-Funded Perversion.”
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek’s reference to “associations promoting LGBTQ+ and immorality” in his statement on the operation also reflected the government’s stance. The operation, which will clearly please AKP voters, was also welcomed by conservative parties in the opposition camp. Yeniden Refah Party (YRP) Chair Fatih Erbakan expressed his gratitude for the operation and called for the associations in question to be shut down. Milli Gazete, regarded as the mouthpiece of the Saadet Party, ran the headline “Deviant LGBT+ Lobbies Are Trying Every Method” following the raids and arrests.
A MOTTO FOR THE NEXT ELECTION CAMPAIGN
Turkey wakes up to a new operation every day. The opposition, however, sees a clear electoral angle to the raids against LGBTQ+ people. The government's two main narratives are said to be coming into focus ahead of the general election, expected at the end of 2027 or in the first quarter of 2028. According to opposition sources, the first will be built around the concept of a “Terror-Free Turkey.” The other prominent theme will be hostility toward LGBTQ+ people, through which the AKP will seek to appeal not only to its own electorate but also to voters of conservative opposition parties such as YRP, Saadet, and DEVA, as well as some nationalist parties. Moreover, this agenda is not expected to remain limited to recent operations.
As part of its anti-LGBTQ+ stance, the government has proposed adding a provision to the constitution stating that “marriage is a union between a woman and a man,” with the aim of preventing same-sex marriage. Amendments introducing stricter criteria for gender-affirming surgery and raising the minimum age for such procedures to 25 had also been included in judicial reform packages. The packages additionally envisaged prison sentences of up to three years for those engaging in or encouraging conduct deemed contrary to biological sex and public morality. These provisions, however, were removed at the last minute.
In parliament, there is talk that following the latest operation criminalizing LGBTQ+ people, the government may revive these legislative proposals — which it has long kept in the public debate — ahead of the election.
Political analysts point to the importance that conservative voters attach to concepts such as family, religion and tradition. Within this framework, anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric could resonate with the conservative electorate. Opposition politicians also frequently argue that identity-based issues of this kind could be used to overshadow pressing concerns such as the economy.
To return to where we began, the report prepared for the 2023 elections voiced concern that LGBTQ+ rights in Turkey would suffer further setbacks if the government won another term. Judging by what has happened and the legislative changes expected to be placed on the agenda, those concerns were not unfounded. It appears that, as Turkey heads toward another election, a new set of polarizing narratives is already being loaded.
