Turkey Jails Journalist Tuğba Tekerek Over LGBT+ Reporting as Police Detain 109 Protesters

Turkish authorities have arrested journalist Tuğba Tekerek and extended the detention of 109 LGBT+ rights protesters, intensifying a crackdown on LGBT+ advocacy and press freedom in the country.

Tekerek, who works for outlets including Deutsche Welle, was arrested in connection with her reporting on the LGBT+ movement in Georgia [242658][242777]. The report at the center of the case was published in October 2024 [242777].

According to court documents, Tekerek faces charges of managing an association's Instagram account — an accusation that comes two years after she published her article [242759]. She wrote the piece while covering elections in Georgia, and it was published by Kaos GL, an LGBT+ rights organization in Turkey [242759].

Her lawyer, Nuradan Kılıç, rejected the charge in court, calling it a "sloppy claim by law enforcement" [242759]. Tekerek also denied the accusation, describing it as "a nonsensical charge with no basis whatsoever" [242759].

In the same raid that led to Tekerek's arrest, police detained seven board members of an LGBT organization [242658].

Separately, Turkish authorities have extended the detention of 109 people arrested for protesting the detention of LGBT+ individuals [242760]. The rights advocates were taken into custody on Tuesday and transferred to three separate locations across Istanbul. Their detention period has now been extended by 24 hours [242760].

Turkish police also detained individuals who attempted to make a statement in front of a courthouse [242779]. The group had gathered to protest the "Family is Safe" operation, a series of raids targeting LGBT+ people. Authorities detained the demonstrators before they could speak to the public [242779].

The crackdown extends beyond LGBT+ advocacy. Turkey has broadened its online restrictions, making several press and human rights organizations invisible on X (formerly Twitter) within the country [241531]. The affected groups include Amnesty International (Af Örgütü), MLSA (Media and Law Studies Association), Evrensel newspaper, and Barış Akademisyenleri (Academics for Peace). Users in Turkey can no longer access these accounts on the platform [241531].