Turkey: Police fire tear gas to disperse Pride march in Istanbul; 20 detained

At least 20 people were detained in Turkey as riot police resorted to using tear gas and rubber bullets to disrupt the annual Pride Parade in Istanbul, intensifying a crackdown on the march amid increased government hostility toward LGBTQ individuals in the country. 

Earlier, Istanbul's Governor's office had denied granting a permit for the said parade which has been held since 2003 but banned for the last seven years. Upon consecutive rejections. hundreds of people waving the signature rainbow flags, marched on Saturday in the city's historical Beyoglu District, while the police body tried to prevent them from congregating on Istiklal Avenue, a hub for shopping and tourism. 

"Rainbow is not a crime, discrimination is," the marchers chanted. 

The latest clashes took place during a troubled year for gay and transgender individuals in Turkey, marking increased strident official discrimination, according to advocacy groups. 

Some of the loudest government denunciations surfaced in February, when officials including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Turkey's interior minister, seized on student protests at prominent Istanbul university to attack LGBTQ individuals. 

Earlier this year, President Erdogan while addressing his party members said, "There is no such thing as LGBT. This country is national, spiritual and walking toward the future with these values."

Is this Turkey's assault on rights and democracy?

Understandably, this statement and approach by the Turkish leader drew criticism from US President Joe Biden and other prominent world leaders. Earlier this year, the Erdogan-led administration also withdrew from Istanbul Convention, a European Union (EU) treaty aimed at preventing violence against women, justifying the withdrawal in part by claiming that the agreement was "normalising" homosexuality. The Istanbul Convention is a human rights accord backed by the Council of Europe. Turkey was the first country to ratify the convention, which was adopted in Istanbul in 2011.

The Turkish government has been criticised by liberals and human rights activists for its conservative approach and hatred towards a community. 

Criticising the Turkish government for its alleged assault on rights and democracy, Human Rights Watch in a report in March, wrote, "Anti-LGBT speeches and social media posts by top government officials have become common."

More recently, the government has also pointed to COVID-19 related protocols and security concerns towards barring LGBTQ celebrations. However, advocates say those justifications ignore what is effectively a targetted crackdown against minority groups, Washington Post reported.