Turkish police conducted sweeping nationwide raids on LGBTQ+ organisations, gay bars and activists' homes on Sunday, detaining at least 63 people as part of a government operation framed around protecting family values. Officers descended on targets across 12 provinces, including Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and Mersin, in what authorities branded the "My Family is Safe" campaign. Justice Minister Akin Gurlek announced that legal proceedings had been launched against 162 suspects, nine associations and 13 businesses.

Among the primary targets was Kaos GL, one of Turkey's leading LGBTQ+ rights and HIV awareness organisations, whose Ankara offices were searched and whose members were detained both at their workplace and at home. The group said around 50 activists had been taken into custody or placed under legal proceedings. Authorities accused Kaos GL of publishing "obscenity" in online posts accessible to children — a charge the group and human rights defenders reject as a pretext. In the days preceding the raids, access to dozens of websites and social media accounts linked to LGBTQ+ organisations was blocked, including Kaos GL's account on X and those of approximately 15 other groups. Police said they also seized drugs, digital equipment, smuggled alcohol and a firearm during the operations.

Gurlek framed the raids as part of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's "Decade of Family and Population" executive order, a broader initiative aimed at reversing Turkey's declining birth rate and, in the government's words, safeguarding children and public order. Turkey, a majority-Muslim but constitutionally secular country, does not criminalise same-sex relations, but homosexuality carries no legal protections and faces widespread social stigma. Erdogan has previously described LGBTQ+ people as "perverts" and a threat to society. Istanbul's Pride March has been banned since 2015, with attempted gatherings forcibly dispersed each year since.

Human rights groups roundly condemned the operation. The Turkish Human Rights Association described it as "state-led discrimination, politics of fear and the dismantling of civil society." There are also reports that authorities have opened investigations into individuals who donated money to the targeted organisations. The European Parliament's rapporteur on Turkey, Nacho Sanchez Amor, called the detentions "a shocking escalation in repression," adding that the imposition of a moral agenda represented "a flagrant violation of fundamental rights and Turkey's international commitments."

The crackdown reflects a years-long hardening of official attitudes toward LGBTQ+ life in Turkey. Universities have shut down LGBTQ+ student clubs, Pride marches in major cities have been banned for over a decade, and activists report increasing difficulty finding safe housing, employment and healthcare. Rights defenders argue that as Erdogan has consolidated political power since entering national politics in 2003, his conservative vision has progressively shaped state institutions — encouraging local authorities and security forces to restrict and suppress LGBTQ+ visibility and activism across the country.