(The Guardian) – Rights groups have condemned as illegal and discriminatory a ban on LGBTI events in the Turkish capital one week after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described empowering gay people as being “against the values of our nation”.
The Ankara governor’s office said on Sunday night that it was imposing a ban on all LGBTI cultural events until further notice, citing threats to “public order” and the fear of “provoking reactions within certain segments of society,” days after it banned a festival on German-language gay films in the capital city.
The ban is the latest in a series of attempts by the ruling Justice and Development (AK) party to curtail the activities of Turkey’s LGBTI rights movement, and to impose what critics say is a public morality rooted in Islam.
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