Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has once again taken aim at LGBTQ+ rights, framing them as a danger to “family values” and doubling down on his government’s anti-LGBTQ+ agenda.
Speaking in Ankara during the launch of Türkiye’s “Year of Family,” Erdogan described LGBTQ+ movements and gender-neutral policies as tools to undermine families and community structures.
“The primary goal of the gender-neutralisation policies, in which LGBT is used as a battering ram, is the family and the sanctity of the family institution,” Erdogan stated, continuing his pattern of inflammatory rhetoric targeting LGBTQ+ individuals and their rights.
Erdogan also referred to LGBTQ+ rights as part of “harmful deviant ideologies” that must be resisted. “These contents, which are served in a conscious, deliberate, and insistent way, lead to gaining space in LGBT and other gross trends, especially in the policies of gender-neutralisation,” he claimed, further perpetuating harmful stereotypes about the LGBTQ+ community.
The Turkish leader went on to highlight Türkiye’s opposition to global LGBTQ+ rights initiatives, claiming the country is “one of the rare nations that boldly objects to this climate on every platform,” including at the United Nations General Assembly. He vowed that Türkiye would never “step back” from this position.
Critics have noted that Erdogan’s remarks are part of a broader pattern of scapegoating LGBTQ+ people to rally support for his socially conservative policies. LGBTQ+ rights groups in Türkiye have increasingly faced government crackdowns, censorship, and restrictions under Erdogan’s leadership. Pride events have been banned in several cities, and activists often face intimidation and arrests.
Erdogan’s rhetoric has also drawn condemnation from international human rights organisations, who argue that his government’s policies further stigmatise an already marginalised community. By framing LGBTQ+ people as a “threat” to families, Erdogan’s government continues to erode human rights and freedoms in Türkiye, critics say.