Third time, no charm: Eid proves unlucky for Istanbul Pride
Istanbul's pride parade has been derailed yet again by police and ultranationalists, but LGBT Turks and their supporters still have much to celebrate.
For the third time since 2015, Istanbul Pride met with resistance from police and ultranationalist activists. On June 25, riot squads fired rubber bullets at those who wished to participate in the parade celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and prevented large crowds from gathering in Istanbul’s central Taksim Square. At least 44 people were detained. There was some positive news in all of this: There was no bloodshed and the detained were later released by police.
While LGBT people and their supporters have been marching all over the world in parades that emphasize the merits of diversity, respect and acceptance toward all people, pride parades in Turkey have become an easy target.
The ruling Justice and Development Party first blocked a pride parade two years ago amid tensions in the run-up to the elections on June 7, 2015. That summer witnessed the first of a series of Islamic State attacks against leftist and Kurdish activists. Much the same thing happened in 2016. It did not help that this year’s pride parade in Turkey’s largest city coincided with the first day of Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of the month of Ramadan in the Islamic calendar, a time when religious feelings run high.
But “public security” concerns are only somewhat convincing. Even before Turkey’s national police department announced that it would not allow pride parades this year, an ultranationalist youth group threatened to attack pride participants. The same groups and others had uttered similar threats last year.
