Protest to GLBT Association Closure Demand

The Istanbul governor's office is demanding the closure of Lambdaistanbul Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transvestite and Transsexual (LGBTT) Association, arguing that both the name of the association and its mission are "inconsistent with general morals and Turkish family values".

The Kaos Gay and Lesbian Association has organised a press conference in which it said that "Discrimination according to sexual orientation is aiming to hinder the freedom of organisation for homosexuals". At the press conference in Turkey's capital Ankara, several associations were present in support: the Pink Life Association, the Ankara University Sexuality Studies Group, the Ankara Women's Platform, the Initiative to Stop Racism and Nationalism, Kaos GL Izmir, the Kaosist Homosexual Civil Society Initiative, the MorEL Eskisehir LGBTT Formation.

Buse Killickaya of the Pink Life Association who read the press release reminded the audience that homosexuals, bisexuals, transvestites and transsexuals organised in order to show that not only heterosexuals lived in this society, but that these organisations were being obstructed. She added that a similar demand by the Ankara governor's office to close the Kaos GL Association had been rejected because the demand was incongruous with the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office's Association Law, European Union political criteria, the Accession Partnership Document, the European Human Rights Agreement and other international human rights agreements that Turkey had signed.

It was argued that the closure of Lambdaistanbul would be illegal and that the Kaos GL case should be considered a legal precedent. (AÖ/EÜ/AG/EÜ)