During the night of 12–13 September, police raided homes, association offices and venues across Türkiye in an operation the authorities called "My Family is Safe". According to Türkiye's Justice Minister, proceedings have been opened against 162 people, nine associations and 13 businesses. Board members of leading LGBTIQ associations were among those detained, including Kaos GL, Pembe Hayat, SPoD and Lambda. The raids came just hours after a court ordered the blocking of LGBTIQ organisations' websites and social media accounts, and digital equipment was seized.

ILGA-Europe and dozens of human rights organisations describe this as a coordinated attack on organised LGBTIQ civil society. It combines morality-based charges, the detention of associations' governing bodies, online censorship and scrutiny of foreign funding.

In their statement, the Global Unions warn that "protecting families" is being used to justify discrimination, restrict civic space and intimidate LGBTIQ people and their allies. They also caution that raiding organisations that support people living with HIV risks discouraging people from seeking treatment. Jeffrey Boyd and Darienne Flemington, Co-chairs of the Council of Global Unions LGBTI Committee, said: "The repeated and targeted attacks against the LGBTI+ community and its organizations are unacceptable."

For trade unions, this is a fight for our own foundations. Freedom of association, freedom of expression and the right to organise without fear are the democratic space that workers' rights depend on. When the state raids associations and detains their boards, that space shrinks for everyone.

Judith Kirton-Darling, General Secretary of industriAll Europe, said:

"The raids in Türkiye are an attack on freedom of association, the very right our movement is built on. When targeting LGBTIQ people becomes part of a wider erosion of democracy, trade unions cannot look away. What starts as an attack on equality soon reaches labour rights and social dialogue. IndustriAll Europe stands with everyone detained, and we demand their immediate release."

IndustriAll Europe's commitment is clear. In 2021, our Executive Committee adopted the position paper Rainbow Workplaces: Our commitment to equality for LGBTIQ workers. In it, our affiliates pledged to publicly commit to LGBTIQ equality and to express solidarity with LGBTIQ people. At our 4th Congress in 2025, Judith Kirton-Darling reaffirmed that discrimination has no place in our organisation or in democratic trade unions.

Echoing the Global Unions and ILGA-Europe, we call on the Turkish authorities to:

  • release everyone detained for exercising their rights to freedom of association, expression and peaceful advocacy
  • end the raids and intimidation of legitimate civil society
  • lift the disproportionate restrictions on LGBTIQ organisations' websites and social media accounts
  • protect seized data and prevent its misuse
  • stop treating international funding and cooperation as a crime

We also urge the EU institutions to raise these cases directly with the Turkish authorities and to monitor the judicial proceedings.
We encourage our affiliates to answer the Global Unions' call: write to the Turkish government and its embassies, and send messages of solidarity to those affected. Organisations can also sign the ILGA-Europe statement.

Global Unions statement: EN
ILGA-Europe statement: EN
Rainbow Workplaces position paper: EN