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Turkish LGBT+ activist arrested without cause

by Tim Gibson

A prominent Turkish LGBT+ rights activist has been arrested in Ankara. Ali Erol, who founded the first LGBT+ organisation in the country, was arrested by authorities from his home on Friday morning. No cause for his arrest has yet been revealed, though his colleagues have made guesses it may have something to do with his social media reports.

Yildiz Tar, the communications coordinator of Erol’s LGBT+ group, said in a statement: “This detention is an intervention in both freedom of expression and LGBTI rights. We hope this mistake will be corrected… Us having such little information about the detention of a prominent figure of the LGBTI movement and founder of Kaos GL is unlawful and worrying.”

The arrest has garnered global attention with Jessica Stern of OutRight Action International calling “for the immediate and unconditional release of Turkish LGBTIQ human rights activist Ali Erol… He is an unjust casualty of an increasingly authoritarian government attacking democracy and curtailing the rights of Turkish citizens exercising their rights to expression and assembly… The persecution of LGBTIQ, and all, Turkish human rights defenders needs to stop now.”

The arrest follows the ban last November of all LGBT+ public events by Governor Mehmet Kiliclar. Claiming such events would create conflict with other groups. Protestors who went ahead with Pride events last year were shot at with rubber bullets by police.

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