The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution on Oct. 1 condemning what it called a coordinated campaign against LGBTQ+ people and rights defenders in Turkey.
The resolution passed by 38 votes to 11, with one abstention. Only 50 of the Assembly's 306 members took part in the vote. The issue was taken up under urgent procedure, BBC Türkçe reported.
The resolution says that since Sept. 12, mass arrests, detentions, home raids and digital restrictions have targeted LGBTQ+ people and those defending their rights in 15 provinces. It says protesters were also detained.
The Assembly said it was alarmed at the use of a family-protection narrative under the “My Family Is Safe” operation. It said the developments mark a shift toward 'an increasingly organized and institutionalized campaign.' 'Repression against LGBTQ+ persons and human rights defenders is the opposite of family protection,' the resolution said.
The resolution calls on Turkey to release everyone detained over their human rights work, sexual orientation or gender identity. It also urges Turkey to drop charges based on freedom of expression, assembly and association.
Other demands include ending the repression of LGBTQ+ people, refraining from anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, lifting Pride bans and website blocks, and implementing European Court of Human Rights judgments. The Assembly also encouraged Turkey to rejoin the Istanbul Convention. PACE resolutions are not binding.
'WITCH HUNT' VS. 'LEGAL OPERATIONS'
Attendance at the debate was low. AKP lawmaker Abdurrahman Babacan said the operations were legal, not political, in nature. CHP lawmaker Aysu Bankoğlu said the government was trying to silence voices it disliked, BBC Turkish reported.
DEM Party lawmaker Sevilay Çelenk Özen called the operations a 'witch hunt.'
'The families of those detained in the operations are asking, 'Isn't my family a family too?'' said Yeni Party Izmir lawmaker Gökçe Gökçen.
AKP lawmaker Meryem Göka rejected the accusations in the Assembly and in the resolution. She criticized what she called the return of old narratives about Turkey.
TURKISH DELEGATES DIVIDED
Three Turkish members voted in favor: Bankoğlu, Gökçen and Çelenk Özen. Babacan, Mustafa Canbey, Göka, Sevan Sıvacıoğlu, Zeynep Yıldız, Pelin Yılık and Sena Nur Çelik Kanat were the seven that voted against.
Four members from Germany, Poland, Luxembourg and Sweden also voted against. A Romanian member abstained.
AMENDMENTS REJECTED IN COMMITTEE
Göka, Yıldız, Babacan, Yılık and Canbey tabled five amendments.
One would have deleted the finding of an organized and institutionalized campaign, which its tabling note called 'unfair and baseless.' Another would have removed the reference to democratic backsliding in Turkey. 'The operations mentioned in this resolution are of a legal nature, not of a political one,' the note by the ruling MPs said.
Other amendments sought to delete the call to end repression and the call to stop hateful rhetoric. One argued that the operations targeted people allegedly involved in criminal activity, not all LGBTQ+ people.
The committee rejected all amendments by a two-thirds majority. Under the rules, they were not put to a vote in the plenary and were deemed rejected.
British Labour lawmaker Sam Rushworth prepared the resolution for the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination.
EU’S QUIET DEMARCHES
Some EU member states criticized the measures through official statements issued from their capitals, as most are wary of a repeat of the 2021 persona non grata crisis, when President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan moved to expel 10 diplomats who had called for the release of jailed philanthropist Osman Kavala.
Nevertheless, a group of member states conveyed their concerns to the Foreign Ministry soon after the crackdown with a joint démarche.
