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https://iclfi.org/pubs/spk/2026-erdogan-lgbt-en

We protest the raids and detention against activists from the LGBTQ+ community across 15 provinces in Türkiye last weekend. We need common united-front protests by the LGBTQ+ rights movement, the trade unions, and the left against state repression by Erdoğan’s regime in Türkiye!

All of Turkish society is suffering from skyrocketing inflation caused by the imperialist oppression of the country. In order to keep the working class in check as economic pressure fuels struggle, Erdoğan is repressing not only workers, but also political opposition as well as oppressed groups like LGBTQ+ people and Kurds.

That’s why a struggle against state repression that relies on pro-imperialist forces like the Kemalist CHP and YENİ Parti won’t work; it will only leave gay and trans people dangerously isolated by associating them with the Kemalists’ crimes. By contrast, the working class has every interest in seeking allies among other oppressed layers, such as LGBTQ+ people, in their struggle against economic deterioration and Erdoğan’s repression. Build an alliance of queer people and labor!

The imperialists are seeking to use this crime to boost their credentials as the “defenders of LGBTQ+ rights.” The EU is “concerned” and urging Ankara to “respect human rights.” Enough crocodile tears! Liberal politicians have not only stabbed queer people in the back repeatedly to save their political reputation, but they also use their “defense” of LGBTQ+ people to cover up the oppression and robbery of Türkiye by the imperialists.

Throughout the diaspora, LGBTQ+ people are scared and looking for allies. However, allying with liberal forces, like DIE LINKE in Germany, ties the oppressed back to the very imperialists attacking LGBTQ+ people and the welfare state. DIE LINKE explicitly advocates working with the CDU, which leads the government, as part of the united “firewall” of all democratic forces against the far-right AfD. Just as in Türkiye, this strategy deepens the gap between queer people and the working class by associating the oppressed with the attacks carried out by the capitalist parties and drives workers into the arms of the right.

  • Release all arrestees!
  • Queer people, workers: Fight together against this attack!
  • Only anti-imperialism can bring gay/trans liberation!