Police in Turkey disrupted Transgender Day of Remembrance events on Nov. 20, halting commemorations by LGBT activists in several cities, including İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir, and Mersin, the Duvar English news website reported.
The annual observance honors transgender individuals lost to hate crimes and suicide.
In Istanbul, members of the 10th İstanbul Trans Pride Week Committee attempted to distribute lokma — a traditional sweet used in Turkish mourning rituals — to the public in Beşiktaş Square. According to the committee, police did not intervene initially, but acted after learning the distribution was dedicated to transgender individuals. Officers then blocked the activity, citing public order concerns.
Activists in Istanbul adapted their protest by unfurling transgender pride flags across the city and projecting the name of Eylül Cansın, a transgender woman who died by suicide in 2015, onto the Bosporus bridges. According to journalist Michelle Demishevich, Cansın had been exploited by a gang and forced to engage in sex work.
In Ankara, police used force to break up a march organized by the Ankara Pride Week Committee. Officers interrupted a press statement, detaining four people, including a lawyer, and clashing violently with activists. The detainees were later released.
In İzmir, trans rights advocates and lawyers gathered outside the İzmir Bar Association following a call to action by the November 20 Association and the bar. Police intervened during an attempt to distribute sweets in memory of transgender hate crime victims, conducting identity checks on activists, attendees and workers preparing the treats.
In the Mediterranean province of Mersin, the Human Rights Association Mersin Branch, along with local LGBT organizations Muamma and 7 Renk, held a demonstration in solidarity with trans individuals.
Lawmakers also addressed transphobia in Parliament. On Nov. 19, Özgül Saki, a member of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), called on Parliament to condemn hate crimes against transgender individuals. “November 20 is a day of solidarity against the politics of hatred directed at trans women,” Saki said.
Turkey has a complex relationship with LGBT rights. Homosexuality is not illegal in Turkey, but homophobia is widespread. While there are no official figures, Turkey has fallen on the LGBT rights index published by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA). Last year, it was ranked 47th of the 49 countries ILGA lists in its Eurasia region.
Transgender individuals face significant obstacles, including high rates of violence and limited access to healthcare. Trans people often face exclusion from formal employment, forcing many into informal or exploitative work environments, including sex work, where they are at heightened risk of violence. From 2008 to September 2024, Turkey recorded 68 murders of transgender individuals, according to the Trans Murder Monitoring project.
An increase in hateful rhetoric against the LGBT community in Turkey coincided with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s electoral alliances in recent years with ultranationalist and ultraconservative political factions.
