Turkey on Tuesday blocked access to the Instagram account of one of the country’s leading LGBTI+ advocacy groups, along with several Pride-related social media accounts, citing national security and public order, Turkish media reported.
Following the decision, access to Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity Foundation’s (Kaos GL) Instagram account was blocked in Turkey. The blocked Pride-related accounts included those for İstanbul Pride Week, İstanbul Trans Pride Week, Ankara Pride and İzmir Pride.
The latest decision adds to a series of access restrictions targeting Kaos GL. The group’s news website, which has covered LGBTI+ issues since 2007, was blocked in June 2025 under a ruling by the İstanbul 12th Criminal Magistrate of Peace, while its X and Instagram accounts had also been restricted in 2025 on similar grounds.
Founded in 1994, Kaos GL one of the oldest and largest LGBTQ+ organizations in Turkey.
The restrictions followed a broader sweep in which access to 57 X accounts belonging to women’s and LGBTI+ rights organizations and activists was blocked on June 19 on national security and public order concerns, days before the start of İstanbul Pride Week.
Yıldız Tar, the editor-in-chief of KaosGL.org, was detained on June 23 with 208 others, including lawyers, academics, journalists and members of left-wing political and civil society organizations, during a series of operations ahead of the NATO summit on July 7–8. Authorities said the detentions were part of terrorism-related investigations targeting civil society figures.
Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has increasingly portrayed LGBTI+ visibility as a threat to public morality and family values, while authorities have for years restricted Pride marches and publicly targeted LGBTI+ advocacy.
Turkey was ranked 47th out of 49 countries in the 2025 Rainbow Index, an annual assessment of LGBTI+ rights published by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA)-Europe, which placed it among the bottom five in Europe.
