Joint Press Statement

To the press and the public,

Human rights violations that took place during and after the 11th Trans Pride March (22 June, Kadıköy) and the 23rd Istanbul LGBTI+ Pride March (29 June, Beşiktaş) held in Istanbul during Pride Month 2025 have been documented in accordance with international standards by: the 17 Mayıs Association, the Truth Justice Memory Center (Hakikat Adalet Hafıza Merkezi), the Human Rights Association (İHD) Istanbul Branch, Kaos GL Association, the Social Policy, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Studies Association (SPoD), the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV), and Amnesty International Turkey.

Our monitoring and documentation work, conducted as human rights organisations observing the Pride Marches, clearly demonstrates that the discriminatory and systematic human rights violations directed against LGBTI+ people — violations that are contrary to international human rights law and have been ongoing since 2015 — continued in 2025 as well. Alongside these violations, senior public officials have continued to use discriminatory rhetoric that reinforces homophobia and transphobia. Discrimination against LGBTI+ people and those who stand in solidarity with them has been deepened, laying the groundwork for the human rights violations documented in this report.

We wish to share with you some of the findings from our report — approximately 50 pages in length, which will be accessible through the websites of the monitoring organisations following this press statement.

► The full text of the report is available at the following link.

Both marches were obstructed through bans imposed by the authorities, in violation of the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, as well as the prohibition of discrimination. The blanket ban orders issued prior to the marches by the Istanbul Governorate and the District Governorates of Şişli, Kadıköy, Beyoğlu, and Beşiktaş were not grounded in any concrete security threat and were contrary to the principle of proportionality. On the days of the marches, a large number of police officers were observed deployed across the Kadıköy, Şişli, Beyoğlu, and Beşiktaş districts. Contrary to their obligations under international human rights standards, administrative authorities and law enforcement caused severe disruption to public transport and other public services — and indeed to everyday life — through the "measures" they took to obstruct the peaceful marches.

Despite the bans and the risk of violence, LGBTI+ activists decided to proceed with the marches on 22 June and 29 June to make their voices heard peacefully. They were, however, obstructed through the use of force by law enforcement officers — force that may constitute torture and other ill-treatment — and were arbitrarily deprived of their liberty for at least 24 hours. The force that may constitute torture and other ill-treatment applied by law enforcement officers targeted not only LGBTI+ activists but also journalists and lawyers who were present in the field to observe the marches. For instance, a lawyer detained in Kadıköy on 22 June reported being subjected to reverse handcuffing inside a police vehicle, and called for the practice to be stopped, saying "My hands are being cut off, remove these." The UN Committee Against Torture has explicitly stated that reverse handcuffing constitutes a form of torture and must be prohibited. The response from a plainclothes senior police officer — "You should have behaved yourself" — illustrates how security forces sought to justify the use of force that may constitute torture and other ill-treatment. Furthermore, the systematic use of prolonged and painful reverse handcuffing as a punitive measure was clearly apparent in the treatment of those detained at the Pride Marches.

In the course of the monitoring and documentation work, many individuals — determined to number at least 95 in total — were detained solely for being present in a public space or on the basis of clothing, symbols, and slogans associated with LGBTI+ people; in some cases, they were forcibly placed into unmarked vehicles by plainclothes police officers without any identification being shown. For example, three individuals detained on 22 June were found to have been stopped and detained on the Galata Bridge in the Beyoğlu district — approximately 17 kilometres from Kadıköy, where the 11th Trans Pride March took place. An examination of the official documents prepared by law enforcement revealed that the grounds given for their detention were "their attire and the presence, on their clothing, of colours symbolising the LGBTI group." The arbitrary detention of individuals wearing rainbow-coloured clothing or carrying related symbols, without any legal basis, constituted an unlawful restriction of the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. The report also documents that two individuals were detained hours before the 11th Trans Pride March, from locations near their own neighbourhoods, on the stated grounds of having "participated in indoor/outdoor actions and events of LGBTI content." More troubling still, this discriminatory and hostile environment — which has effectively amounted to an effort to criminalise the very existence of LGBTI+ people in public space — has created a chilling effect, deterring some from participating in the protests at all.

Findings obtained by field observers operating both on the streets and at police stations revealed that a significant number of those detained were subjected to various forms of treatment that may constitute torture and other ill-treatment, including reverse handcuffing, unlawful physical and verbal violence, sexual violence, and the denial of access to basic needs. From the moment of apprehension through to the commencement of statement-taking procedures at the police station, detainees were denied access to legal assistance; three lawyers were detained through the use of physical force. Some lawyers who sought to accompany clients during statement-taking were arbitrarily denied entry to the provincial police headquarters despite holding valid bar association identification.

These findings are further corroborated by the statement records examined by the monitoring organisations. For example, during statement-taking procedures concerning individuals who participated or were alleged to have participated in the 22 June Kadıköy march, one person — who had not resisted at the time of arrest — reported being threatened by a police officer who said "If you resist any more, I will break your arm," after objecting to the reverse handcuffing. Another person recounted being thrown to the ground during arrest, having their head struck against the ground, and subsequently having their back pressed down forcefully while their knee was bent with excessive force. It was also reported that, as one individual was being taken into custody, a police officer made remarks targeting their gender identity, saying "Are you a man too? I hope I'm the one who searches you," using language that constituted both insults and threats based on gender identity.

Among those detained in connection with the LGBTI+ Pride March attempted in Beşiktaş on 29 June, some reported having their throats squeezed or being kicked inside the detention vehicle. The initial vehicle into which they were placed was described as excessively hot and poorly ventilated; two individuals experienced breathing difficulties and were removed from the vehicle, while the others were kept inside for an extended period. During this time, police officers reportedly directed insults and threats at those detained, including statements such as "You are all disgusting! Look at yourselves — your filth is going to rub off on us" and "If you make any noise, we'll put the reverse handcuffs back on." Bruising was also observed on individuals who had been placed face-down on the ground with their arms bound in reverse handcuffs during arrest, with officers standing on their backs.

Following both marches, the names of the hospitals to which detainees were taken for admission and discharge medical examinations were not shared with their relatives or lawyers. In response to this lack of transparency, the monitoring organisations arranged for volunteer observer physicians to be present at potential hospitals. On 22 June, observation was not possible as detainees were taken to hospitals other than those identified and covered by observers. On 29 June, it was determined that detainees were brought to examinations while still handcuffed, that the handcuffs were not removed before examinations began, and that those whose handcuffs had been removed showed redness on their wrists, with some having bruises and injuries on their bodies. It was also determined that the detention examinations were not conducted in accordance with the Istanbul Protocol; in some cases, detainees noted in their statements that law enforcement officers were present in the examination room.

The monitoring organisations also examined the indictments and statement records submitted to the courts concerning a total of 39 individuals who participated or were alleged to have participated in the Trans Pride March — three of whom were under the age of 18 — and 53 individuals who participated or were alleged to have participated in the Istanbul LGBTI+ Pride March. These indictments were found to be in clear contradiction with numerous fundamental human rights standards, including the right to a fair trial, the right to be free from discrimination, freedom of expression, and the right to peaceful assembly. The stance taken by prosecutorial authorities reflects a punitive, disproportionate, and non-rights-based approach to investigation, and carries the risk of suppressing dissent and criminalising the presence of LGBTI+ people in public space. In the context of the international human rights conventions to which Turkey is a party, such practices constitute serious human rights violations and give rise to legal accountability.

Since 2015, the LGBTI+ Pride Marches have been systematically and unlawfully obstructed by the authorities. This year, however, three of those detained were arbitrarily remanded in pre-trial detention — despite the absence of any concrete grounds for suspicion that the offence of "participating unarmed in an unlawful assembly or march and failing to disperse despite warnings" had been committed, and despite there being no legal or conscientious basis justifying pre-trial detention. The first hearing in the case opened in connection with the 29 June LGBTI+ Pride March is scheduled to take place on 8 August at Istanbul's 51st Criminal Court of First Instance. The arrest of activists signals a deeply troubling escalation in the criminalisation of LGBTI+ people's exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in Turkey. As monitoring organisations, we will be following this case closely.

As human rights organisations, our demands are as follows:

• The violations of LGBTI+ people's rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, personal liberty and security, and the right to be free from discrimination must be brought to an immediate end.

• Blanket bans on peaceful assemblies must be avoided; it must be ensured that everyone, including LGBTI+ people, is able to enjoy the right to peaceful assembly without discrimination, including through the establishment of adequate protections for the right to organise and participate in peaceful assemblies.

• All charges brought against LGBTI+ protesters and others prosecuted solely for exercising their right to peaceful assembly must be dropped immediately and unconditionally. The two individuals who remain in pre-trial detention must be released immediately.

• All allegations of unlawful use of force and other human rights violations by law enforcement officers against protesters — including gender-based violence, torture, and other forms of ill-treatment — must be subject to effective, impartial, and timely investigations.

17 Mayıs Association 
Truth Justice Memory Center (Hakikat Adalet Hafıza Merkezi) 
Human Rights Association (İHD) Istanbul Branch 
Kaos GL 
Social Policy, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Studies Association (SPoD) 
Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) 
Amnesty International Turkey

► The full text of the report is available at the following link.