woensdag 16 december 2015

LGBT rights in Turkey 2015.


The legal situation of LGBT people in Turkey.

Unlike in most countries with a Muslim majority, homosexuality is not illegal in Turkey. During the Ottoman empire, homosexuality was legalised in 1858. When the secularist republic of Turkey was established in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, homosexuality remained legal. So, sexual conduct between consenting adults of the same sex is not a crime in Turkey. The age of consent for both heterosexual and homosexual sex in Turkey is 18.



LGBT people have had the right to seek asylum in Turkey under the Geneva Convention since 1951. Transsexuals have been allowed to change their legal gender since 1988. There is no constitutional protection of LGBT people in Turkey.

Daily life and discrimination of LGBT’s in Turkey.

Turkey has got a long tradition of LGBT organisations. Last year, Ankara-based Kaos GL, the main LGBT organisation in Turkey, celebrated its 20th anniversary.  Apart from Kaos GL, there are an increasing number of LGBT organisations across Turkey. You have got LGBT organisations in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Tunceli (Dersim), Antalya, Antakya, Çukurova, Kocaeli, Malatya, Mersin, Eskişehir, Adana and so on.

Although you have LGBT bars and clubs in cities like Izmir, Ankara, Bodrum and Kuşadası, the epicentre of the LGBT nightlife in Turkey is definitely  Istanbul. Istanbul’s district of Beyoğlu is the neighbourhood where most of the LGBT bars and clubs are located. Istanbul’s LGBT nightlife is quite similar to the LGBT nightlife of the European cities like London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Barcelona, and so on.

LGBT pride Parades have been taking place in Istanbul since 2003 and in Izmir since 2012. Homosexual singer Zeki Müren, who passed away in 1996, and transgender singer Bülent Ersoy are very popular indeed among both conservative and progressive Turks. 

Does this mean that LGBT people have achieved their full rights? No, absolutely not.

Despite all this positive news, LGBT people are still confronted with discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and homophobic and transphobic violence.

There is no institution that collect and publish official data/figures of the number of homophobic and transphobic attacks in Turkey. LGBT organisations in Turkey and Amnesty International Turkey doing their best to collect figures of homophobic and transphobic attacks.

In 2015, LGBT organisations and Boğaziçi University conducted a questionnaire among LGBT people in Turkey in order to get some more insights into the discrimination and homophobic and transphobic attacks LGBT people in Turkey face. 2875 individuals participated in the online survey and 14 focus group interviews in 10 cities (İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Eskişehir, Gaziantep, Trabzon, Adana, Antalya, Mersin, Edirne).

According to the results of the survey and 14 focus group sessions, approximately 46,1% of the participants experience discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Only 10% filed a criminal complaint against the perps. Out of LGBT individuals who filed a complaint, only 16.5% had a satisfactory result. Most LGBT people (62,9%) have no trouble of finding a job. 29,1% of the participants, however, stated that they were treated unfairly in terms of working conditions and salary (leave, retirement etc.) because they had a same sex partner. Transgender people experience much more discrimination on the labour market than homosexual and bisexual men and women, most transgenders are either unemployed or working as a sex worker. Transgender sex workers often experience maltreatment (both verbal and physical) by male kerb-crawlers and police officers.

Approximately 22,1% of the participants came out as LGBT to their work colleagues and bosses at work. About 38,1% of the LGBT people told at least one family member that they are gay, bisexual or transgender. 29.5 % of the participants reported that they feel obliged to live in certain parts of the city. About 8.8 % of the participants reported that their neighbours disturbed them because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

Transgender people experience more discrimination and violence than homosexual and bisexual men and women. There are no official figures of the number of cases of transphobia in Turkey. According to LGBT organisations, 12 transphobic attacks took place in de first 9 months of 2015. The attacks took place in the following cities:  Afyon, Istanbul’s disctrict of  Bakırköy, Izmir, Istanbul’s district of Şişli, Istanbul’s district of Tarlabaşı, Kocaeli, Ankara and  Mersin.   34 deadly attacks since 2008.

Not all victims of a transphobic attack file a criminal complaint and not all perps get arrested and convicted. But sometimes the perpetrators do get arrested and convicted.

On 11 July 2015, three people were sentenced for kidnapping and raping a transgender sex worker in Izmir. During the trial, the defendants and their lawyers tried to minimalize the severity of the criminal acts they committed last year. The judge, however, refused to minimalize the criminal acts and sentenced the three perps to 27 years and 6 months each in prison.

Several transgender people in Turkey committed suicide this year after being subjected to transphobia for years.

On 20 November 2015 (Transgender Day of Remembrance), a trans woman was attacked by a group of men in Istanbul. She survived the attack. Three days later, 23 November 2015, a deadly attack on a transgender took place in Istanbul.  Nilay, a 33 years old trans woman in Maltepe, Istanbul lost her life after transphobic hate crime.
Here is a most interesting short documentary about the situation of transgender people in Turkey. The video shows the discrimination and transphobic attacks transgender people have to endure. But it is also a documentary about hope and the positive steps that has been happening towards acceptance of transgender people. 



Bron cijfers: www.kaosgl.com  , http://researchturkey.org/summary-results-of-the-social-and-economic-problems-of-lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transsexual-lgbt-individuals-in-turkey-research/




The history of the LGBT organisations and LGBT Pride weeks and  Pride Parades in Turkey 2003-2014




Turkey has got a long tradition of LGBT organisations. Last year (2014), Ankara-based Kaos GL, the main LGBT organisation in Turkey, celebrated its 20th anniversary. 


The first two LGBT organisations, LambdaIstanbul and the aforementioned Kaos GL, were established after the violent police crackdown on the first attempt of holding an LGBT Pride Parade in Turkey. The first ever LGBT Pride Parade was planned on 2 July 1993 in Istanbul’s district of Beyoğlu. This LGBT Pride Parade was banned by the governor of Istanbul. The night before the Pride, police raided the houses of several LGBT rights activists. On the day itself, police cracked down on the LGBT people who showed up for the first LGBT Pride Parade.  Months after these Turkish 'Stonewall' events, LGBT organisations Lambda Istanbul and Kaos GL were established.

 21 Years later, you have LGBT organisations in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Antakya, Antalya, Dersim, Diyarbakır, Kars, Kocaeli, Malatya, Ersin, Adana, Eskişehir, Gaziantep, çukurcova, and so on. Nowadays, there are also numerous LGBT student clubs in many universities across the country. One of them, Club gökkuşağı, gained official recognition by Bilgi University in Istanbul.
Since 1994, several LGBT organisations faced lawsuits to close the organisation. In most cases, the lawsuits were rejected by the court.
In 2005, Ankara-based KaosGL gained official recognition as an NGO in Turkey.


Although an LGBT Pride Week was organised in Istanbul since 1992, the first LGBT Pride parade that could take place as planned was in 2003, which was 10 years after the riot police crackdown on the first attempt in 1993.

Approximately 35 people participated in the LGBT Pride Parade 2003 in Istanbul. Since then, the number of participants have increased. In 2011, more than 15 000 people participated in the LGBT Pride Parade in Istanbul. In 2012, the Istanbul Pride had more than 30 000 participants.

On Sunday 30 June 2013, the 11th LGBT Pride Parade took place in Istanbul, which was part of the 21st LGBT ( Lesbian , Gay , Bisexual, Transgender) Pride Week in Turkey. Approximately  100 000 LGBT people and Gezi park  activists gathered in Taksim Square and marched down Istiklal Caddesi to Tünel Square at Istanbul's district of Beyoğlu. The tens of thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender activists were joined by an equal number of Gezi Park protesters in an unprecedented show of unity and solidarity at Istanbul’s Gay Pride Parade 2013. It was the biggest LGBT Pride Parade ever in Turkey.  100 000 LGBT people and Gezi Park protesters demanded equal rights for LGBT people and respect for individual freedoms.


 

There were also smaller LGBT Pride Parades in Izmir and Antalya.
With this massive LGBT Pride Parade in Istanbul, the 21st LGBT Pride Week in Turkey came to a close. Between 23 June and 30 June a lot of cultural activities, seminars, a gay film festival and two demonstrations took place.

Footage of the LGBT Pride Parade 2013 in Istanbul.


In 2014, the 12th LGBT pride parade in Istanbul took place during the month of Ramadan. More than 110 000 LGBT rights activists took to the streets to demand equal rights for LGBT people and sex workers in Turkey, making it one of the biggest ever in Europe. 
Footage of the LGBT Pride Parade 2014 in Istanbul.



On Sunday 14 June 2015, the third LGBT Pride Parade in Izmir and first LGBT Pride Parades in Denizli and Mersin took place.

On Sunday 14 June,  LGBT Pride Parades took place in Izmir, Denizli and Mersin.
 On Sunday 21 June 2015, around 10 000 LGBT people gathered near Taksim Square in Istanbul’s district of Beyoğlu for the annual Transgender Pride Parade. With this transgender Pride, the 6st Transgender Pride Week came to a close.
This year’s edition had a bit of a difficult start. The plan was to march down Istiklal Caddesi to Tünel Square. Around the same time and half-way down Istiklal Caddesi there was another march going on. Riot police cracked down on the protesters, resorting to tear gas and water cannon. Because of this, police officers cordoned off Istiklal Caddesi, not allowing the LGBT people to march. After negotiation with the police, the Transgender Pride Parade 2015 could go ahead as planned. Around 10 000 transgender rights activists marched down Istiklal Caddesi, demanding equal rights for transgender people.
Arrived at Tünel Square, a speech was delivered, denouncing the AKP’s and Erdoğan’s negative stance towards LGBT people and equal rights for LGBT people in Turkey.
The LGBT community and the Gezi Park protests.


In 2013, Turkey witnessed nationwide protest against de AK party government. It all started on Tuesday 28 May 2013 when environmentalists started a sit-in at Gezi Park in Istanbul, angry at plans to redevelop that part of Taksim Square. After a police crackdown on the environmentalists on 31 May, the situation in Istanbul escalated. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across Turkey to protest against the AKP government and police brutality.
What started as an environmental protest in Istanbul turned into nationwide protests against the increasingly conservative and authoritarian policies of the AKP government. In total, more than 3 000 000 people protested across Turkey during the Gezi Park protests. Among the hundreds of thousands of protesters were LGBT people, Alevis, women, environmentalists, a lot of secularist Turks, trade union workers, members of the secularist opposition party CHP and the pro-Kurdish opposition party HDP, human rights activists, and so on.
The ongoing struggle for equal rights was one of the reasons LGBT people participated in the nationwide protests against the conservative and authoritarian policies of the Erdoğan government. 
But there was also a second reason. The Gezi Park is of particular interest for the LGBT community in Istanbul. In the evening and night, it is a meeting place for homosexual men who meet each other there and have the odd spot of naughtiness in the open air.
During the occupation of Gezi Park and the mass demonstrations across the whole of Turkey,  LGBT organisations established some new alliances with different organisations in order to create better understanding of homosexuality . Furthermore, the Gezi Park protests gave the LGBT community in Turkey more confidence than ever before.

The LGBT Pride week and LGBT Pride Parade 2015.

What should have been a fantastic closing activity of the 23rd LGBT Pride Week in Turkey turned into a black day for the LGBT community in Turkey.
On Sunday 28 June 2015 around 17u local time, thousands and thousands of LGBT people gathered in Taksim Square for the annual LGBT Pride Parade. The plan was to march down Istiklal Caddesi to Tünel Square, demanding equal rights for LGBT people in Turkey.
Unlike the previous 12 years, this year the LGBT Pride Parade was all of the sudden banned by the Govenor of Istanbul, Vasip Şahin.
Riot police officers resorted to tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters. Thousands of participants left Taksim Square and ran towards Istiklal Caddesi.
In Istiklal Caddesi, defiant LGBT rights activists, CHP MP Mahmut Tanal and HDP MP Filiz Kerestecioğlu started to march towards Tünel Square. Riot Police officers, however, fired rubber bullets and tear gas canisters at the protesters from close range. Police arrested several people, both in Taksim Square and Istiklal Caddesi.
MP’s of the secularist centre-left opposition party CHP and the pro-Kurdish opposition party HDP tried to stop the police from cracking down on the protesters. MP’s of the CHP and HDP cordoned off the street to stop police crackdown.

Mahmut Tanal, MP of the secularist centre-left CHP, climbed on a water cannon lorry to stop it from driving towards LGBT rights activists.


LGBT rights organisations and the CHP and HDP denounced very fiercely the police crackdown.

Despite the police crackdown, LGBT people continued to march. By doing this and by partying all night following the police crackdown, the LGBT community in Turkey showed that they will fight for their rights and freedom.
All the 12 previous editions of LGBT Pride Parade in Istanbul took place without any incident whatsoever.
Speaking to Kaos GL ( the main  LGBT organisation in Turkey)  on Monday 30 June, MP Mahmut Tanal (CHP) said that the police crackdown was against basic human rights and against the constitution of Turkey.
‘It was my duty to stop that water cannon lorry. They were violating basic human rights. This LGBT Pride Parade is taking place all around the world. If I didn’t stop that water cannon lorry , people would have been  exposed to much more violence. LGBT people in Turkey are still subjected to homophobia and transphobia. This is outrages. I am doing what I can and will keep doing so no matter what the others say. If defending human rights is a crime, then I will keep committing this crime. By using the Ramadan as an excuse to ban the Gay Pride minutes before it would start, they also abused religion‘, a defiant Mahmut Tanal (CHP) said to Kaos GL.
On Thursday 02/07/2015, the Istanbul LGBTI Pride Week Committee filed a criminal complaint at the Çağlayan Courthouse in Istanbul against Interior Minister Sebahattin Öztürk, Istanbul Governor Vasip Şahin, and Istanbul Police Chief Selami Altınok for their role in ordering the crackdown on the annual Istanbul LGBTI Pride Parade on Sunday 28/07/2015. In December 2015, the governor of Istanbul, Vasip Şahin, rejected earlier this week the calls of the LGBT organisations for an inquiry against the riot police officers that cracked down on the LGBT Pride Parade 2015 in Istanbul.
LGBT community and the general elections June 2015 and the snap general elections on 1 November 2015.
After 13 years of domination as a single-party government, the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), which has been receiving growing criticism for pursuing highly divisive, authoritarian and repressive policies, saw a significant erosion of support in Sunday's election and it failed to secure the 276 seats in the Parliament necessary to continue its single-party rule for another term.
The final results of the 7 June general elections in Turkey were: AKP  40,86 % (AKP lost 8,94 %) , the secularist centre-left CHP 24,96% ( slight drop of 1,02% ), the secularist pro-Kurdish HDP 13,12% ( increase of 6,52%) , the right-wing MHP 16,29%( increase of 3,28%).
LGBT people very actively campaigned for LGBT rights during the political campaigns leading up to the general elections on 7 June. The LGBT organization SPoD LGBTI had formulated an open LGBTI rights pledge and asked candidates to publicly sign it. By signing the aforementioned pledge, the candidates promised to defend LGBTI rights in the parliament. More than 40 candidates signed the pledge. All of them are either from the secularist opposition centre-left party CHP or from the pro-Kurdish secularist opposition party HDP.
21 candidates who signed the pledge got elected.
Approximately 2 years ago, Turkey witnessed nationwide protest against the AK party government in Turkey. It all started on Tuesday 28 May 2013.Environmentalists in Istanbul started a sit-in at Gezi Park, angry at plans to redevelop that part of Taksim Square. After a police crackdown on environmentalists on 31 May, the situation in Istanbul escalated. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across Turkey to protest against the AKP government and police brutality.
What started as an environmental protest in Istanbul turned into nationwide protest against the increasingly conservative and authoritarian policies of the AKP government. In total, more than 3 000 000 people protested across Turkey during the Gezi Park protests. LGBT people very actively participated in de Gezi Park protests that swept the country in 2013.
Since then, there were even more demonstrations against the AK party government for various reasons. Nevertheless, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan got elected as president in 2014 with 52%.
On Sunday 7 June 2015, however, the growing authoritarianism and arrogance of Erdoğan backfired massively.  Turkish parties had to explore coalition options following the historic elections. The coalition talks between the AKP and the centre-left CHP ended with no result after president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reportedly intervened. A coalition government between the AKP and between the three opposition parties was not possible. Early general elections were inevitable then.
This time round, the AKP managed to regain its one-party majority
The final results of the 7 November general elections in Turkey are: AKP  49,4 % ( increase of more than  8 %) , the secularist centre-left CHP 25,38% ( slight increase of 0,42% ), the secularist pro-Kurdish HDP 10,7% ( drop of approx. 2%) , the right-wing MHP 11,93%( drop of more than 4%).
The period between 7 June and 1 November was characterized by growing polarisation, tension and violent attacks. It looks like the majority of the Turks opted for more stability and safety instead of more freedom and more respect for human rights.
On Sunday 1 November, 14 politicians of the secularist centre-left CHP and 2 politicians of the pro-Kurdish HDP who signed SPoD LGBTI's LGBTI rights pledge have been elected as Member of Parliament(MP).
The 14 MP's of the CHP are: Aylin Nazlıaka (Ankara), Selin Sayek Böke (Izmir), Zeynep Altıok (Izmir), Musa Çam (Izmir), Oğuz Kaan Salıcı (Istanbul), İlhan Cihaner (Istanbul), Aykut Erdoğdu (Istanbul), Dursun Çiçek (Istanbul), Selina Doğan (Istanbul), Şafak Pavey (Istanbul), Enis Berberoğlu (Istanbul), Sezgin Tanrıkulu (Istanbul), Didem Engin (Istanbul) and Onursal Adıgüzel (Istanbul).
The 2 MP's of the HDP are: Erdal Ataş (Istanbul), Filiz Kerestecioğlu (Istanbul)
The position of the different political parties when it comes to LGBT rights.
The 4 political parties who are represented in parliament:
AKP: islamist-rooted , conservative , right-wing, liberal economic policies, nationalist.
CHP: secularist , centre-left, social-democrat , nationalist.
HDP: Pro-Kurdish, left, secularist, Kurdish nationalist.
MHP: Extreme nationalist, right-wing, conservative, authoritarian
When it comes to LGBT rights in Turkey, there are only 2 parties who are in favour of LGBT rights: CHP and HDP.
CHP
The last couple of years, the secularist centre-left party CHP has been taking numerous initiatives both on the national level and the municipal level to make sure that LGBT people get equal rights:
On 22 October 2015 , Hayri İnönü ( secularist centre-left CHP), mayor of Istanbul's district of Şişli, hold a press conference to officially announce the establishment of the social equality unit, a project by the city council of Şişli and LGBT organisations. The social equality unit will facilitate participatory policy-making in order to make positive steps forward towards equal rights of LGBT people, Alevis, women, people with a disability and people with a different ethnic background
On Sunday 1 November 2015, 14 politicians of the secularist centre-left CHP and 2 politicians of the pro-Kurdish HDP who signed SPoD LGBTI's LGBTI rights pledge got elected as Member of Parliament(MP). The 14 MP's of the CHP are: Aylin Nazlıaka (Ankara), Selin Sayek Böke (Izmir), Zeynep Altıok (Izmir), Musa Çam (Izmir), Oğuz Kaan Salıcı (Istanbul), İlhan Cihaner (Istanbul), Aykut Erdoğdu (Istanbul), Dursun Çiçek (Istanbul), Selina Doğan (Istanbul), Şafak Pavey (Istanbul), Enis Berberoğlu (Istanbul), Sezgin Tanrıkulu (Istanbul), Didem Engin (Istanbul) and Onursal Adıgüzel (Istanbul).
On 1 July 2015, the secularist centre-left party CHP submitted a draft bill for the establishment of a parliamentary commission on LGBT rights in Turkey. That parliamentary commission is to investigate the discrimination and homophobia and transphobia against LGBT people and to formulate and put forward recommendations in order to tackle the aforementioned discrimination and violence against LGBT people in Turkey. The draft bill is signed by 47 MP’s of the CHP.
28 June  2015: Unlike all the previous 12 years, the annual LGBT Pride Parade 2015 in Istanbul couldn’t go ahead. Riot police cracked down on tens of thousands of LGBT people in Taksim Square on Sunday 28 June 2015. MP’s from the CHP and the HDP teamed up and staged several interventions in order to prevent the police from cracking down on the LGBT people participating in the Pride.
June 2015:LGBT people actively campaigned for LGBT rights during the political campaigns leading up to the general elections on 7 June 2015.The LGBT organization SPoD LGBTI had formulated an open LGBTI rights pledge and asked candidates to publicly sign it. By signing the aforementioned pledge, the candidates promised to defend LGBTI rights in the parliament. More than 40 candidates signed the pledge. All of them are either from the secularist centre-left opposition party CHP or from the pro-Kurdish opposition party HDP. Among those who signed the pledge are MP Aylin Nazlıaka ( CHP), Enis Berberğlu (CHP),  Melda Onur (CHP), Perihan Yucekaya (HDP), Ulku Yalcinkaya (HDP) , Inan Güney (CHP), Selina Doğan CHP, and so on.
17 May 2015: In Istanbul, the secularist party CHP organized an information stand together with LGBT rights organisation SPoD LGBTI on 17 May to mark IDAHOT, international Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. Together, they asked passers-by to sign the LGBT rights pledge by Mecliste LGBTI.


June 2015: In the CHP election manifesto one can read that the CHP will plead for equal rights of LGBT people in Turkey.
07 April 2015:The secularist party CHP wants to establish a centre for social inclusion. MP Sezgin   Tanrıkulu submitted a bill for the establishment of such a centre on Tuesday 07 April 2015. This centre of social inclusion would then implement a 5-year programme for social inclusion, addressing and tackling discrimination of LGBT people, women, Alevi people, Kurdish people, and so on.
On 3 March 2015, lesbian Sedef Çakmak was inaugurated as the first openly LGBT city councillor in Turkey . She is a councillor for the secularist party CHP in Istanbul’s district of Beşiktaş. Sedef Çakmak was one of the many openly LGBT candidates in the municipal elections of 2014 on behalf of the CHP.As a city councillor, Sedef Çakmak will continue to focus on LGBT-related topics. The last year, Sedef Çakmak worked as an advisor to the CHP-mayor of Beşiktaş ( Istanbul) on policies and services for LGBT’s, making the policies and services in local administration LGBT-friendly.
In 2014, the CHP mayor of Istanbul’s district of Şişli , Hayri İnönü, launched a free and anonymous health service for LGBTs as a first in the country.
On 20 November 2014, both the CHP mayors of Istanbul’s districts of Beşiktaş and Şişli organised a march to mark International Transgender Day of Remembrance.  MP Binnaz Toprak (CHP) held a press conference in the Turkish Parliament together with LGBTI activists to denounce transphobia in Turkey.
On Sunday 30 March 2014 municipal elections took place in Turkey. In Istanbul, the secularist centre-left  CHP and the pro-Kurdish HDP presented several LGBT ( Lesbian , Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) people stood for election. For the CHP Sedef Çakmak (Istanbul’s district of Beşiktaş), Boysan Yakar (Istanbul’s district of Şişli) and Çelik Özdemir (Istanbul’s district of Beyoğlu) stood for elections. Unfortunately, none of them got elected. On 3 March 2015, however, lesbian Sedef Çakmak(CHP) was inaugurated as the first openly LGBT city councillor in Turkey. 
June 2013: The pro-Kurdish party HDP proposed a bill so that LGBT people would have constitutional protection from discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. The CHP backed the proposal. This proposal was blocked by the AKP and the MHP.
On 15 February 2013, about 59 MP’s of the CHP pleaded for a parliamentary commission on LGBT rights. This proposal was blocked by de AKP and MHP.
MP’s of the CHP are always participating in the annual LGBT Pride Parade in Istanbul.
Source: http://kaosgl.com

AKP
When it comes to LGBT rights, the AK party takes a rather conservative stance.
02 July 2015: Then-Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç responded to a question on 2 July about the LGBTI Pride March 2015 in Istanbul: “Unfortunately, I am ashamed to say this in a place where our lady sisters are present but some people turn this into honour, meaning people in different sexual orientations. But it is extremely saddening that they get completely naked in broad daylight, challenging and having fun in the middle of Istanbul, and unfortunately, parliamentarians from the CHP and HDP supporting them.”
28 June 2015:Unlike all the previous 12 years, the annual LGBT Pride Parade 2015 in Istanbul couldn’t go ahead. Riot police cracked down on tens of thousands of LGBT people in Taksim Square on Sunday 28 June 2015.
June 2015: “AK Party has been in power for 13 years. Within the very first 4 years of its existence, it was able to solve the problems of the conservative segment, which brought [the party] to power, despite having to fight against threats of party closure. Turkey is a country that can hold a Gay Pride on Istiklal Avenue even in the middle of the month of Ramadan. The increased visibility of conservative people does not carry the meaning that there is an intervention against people’s life styles. Yes, now there is visibility of more people in head scarves and people who can practice their religion more comfortably because they were under pressure before. AK Party has never had and will never have the intention to interfere with anyone’s life style. In the period of 13 years, there has only been a fight for the equality of wronged segments.”, is what we could read in the election brochure of the AKP for the elections of the 7th of June. It is true. For the twelve previous years, the annual LGBT Pride Parade in Istanbul took place with no incident whatsoever.  The first LGBT Pride Parade in Istanbul after the 7 June general elections was, however, banned only a couple of minutes before the start of the parade.
June 2015:LGBT people actively campaigned for LGBT rights during the political campaign leading up to the general elections on 7 June. The LGBT organization SPoD LGBTI had formulated an open LGBTI rights pledge and asked candidates to publicly sign it. By signing the aforementioned pledge, the candidates promised to defend LGBTI rights in the parliament. By now, more than 40 candidates signed the pledge. All of them are either from the secularist opposition party CHP or from the pro-Kurdish opposition party HDP. SPoD LGBTI also contacted the ruling AKP and the nationalist opposition party MHP, but none of the candidates of the AKP and HDP signed the pledge.
On Sunday 17 May 2015, thousands of LGBT people took to the streets of Ankara to mark IDAHOT, International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. On their way to Sakarya Square, LGBT rights activists stopped at a campaign poster of prime minister Ahmet Davutoğlu (AKP). The poster features the message ‘They talk, the AKP does’. Defiant LGBT activists sprayed a graffiti message on the poster, saying ‘Challenging you to fight homophobia’. The ruling AKP, however, failed to mention LGBT rights in their election manifesto for the general elections, which took place on Sunday 7 June 2015.
In 2015, Faruk Çelik, Minister of Labour and Social Security gave the following response to an inquiry by MP Mahmut Tanal (CHP) regarding LGBTI employment and policies geared towards LGBTI youth: “The measures taken by our Ministry to support the labour-force participation of especially disadvantaged groups and to tackle discrimination and social exclusion concern women, children, people with disabilities, the youth, ex-convicts, the Roma, immigrants, the poor or people under poverty risk, addicts and seasonal workers. “He thereby ignored the LGBTI with his response.
February 2015: AKP MP Ismet Ucma made some very homophobic statements. Ucma stated that they wish that homosexuality in society and even in humanity wouldn’t exist and that it can be prevented by propaganda.
On 20 and 21 November 2014, AKP MP Nursuna Memecan and CHP MP Binnaz Toprak participated in a conference titled “Fundamental Rights, Non-Discrimination and the Protection of Vulnerable Groups, Including LGBT”. After the conference, both AKP MP Nursuna Memecan and CHP MP Binnaz Toprak said that LGBT people in Turkey should get equal rights as soon as possible. Weeks and days before the conference, the conservative newspaper Milli Gazete, known for its links to the organisation Millî Görüş and the AKP, attacked the MP’s. In an article, the Milli Gazete referred to the conference as ‘the conference of perversion’.
June 2013: The pro-Kurdish party HDP proposed a bill so that LGBT people would have constitutional protection from discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. The CHP backed the proposal. This proposal was blocked by the AKP and the MHP.
On 15 February 2013, about 59 MP’s of the CHP pleaded for a parliamentary commission on LGBT rights. This proposal was blocked by de AKP and MHP.
On 2 April 2012, Ankara Metropolitan Mayor, Melih Gökçek (AKP) responded to a question about the prospect of a gay mayor in Turkey posed by Okan Bayülgen on a TV program, Gökçek said: “Of course we have a lifestyle of our own, we have customs, traditions. Over there they are at a different place…God willing there will never be a gay mayor in Turkey and there must never be.”
In 2009, then-minister of family affairs Aliye Kavaf (AKP) said : “ I believe homosexuality is a biological disorder, a disease, and needs to be cured. “ In 2010, Aliye Kavaf (AKP) said : “I believe homosexuality is a dysfunction, a disease. It is something that requires treatment. Therefore I do not approve of same sex marriages. There is nothing in the works in our Ministry about this. Neither is there a demand for it. We do not say that homosexuals do not exist, there is such a phenomenon.”
HDP
The pro-Kurdish party HDP is very much in favour of equal rights for LGBT people in Turkey:
On Sunday 1 November 2015, 14 politicians of the secularist centre-left CHP and 2 politicians of the pro-Kurdish HDP who signed SPoD LGBTI's LGBTI rights pledge got elected as Member of Parliament(MP). The 2 MP's of the HDP are: Erdal Ataş (Istanbul), Filiz Kerestecioğlu (Istanbul)
28 June 2015: Unlike all the previous 12 years, the annual LGBT Pride Parade 2015 in Istanbul couldn’t go ahead. Riot police cracked down on tens of thousands of LGBT people in Taksim Square on Sunday 28 June 2015. MP’s from the CHP and the HDP teamed up and staged several interventions in order to prevent the police from cracking down on the LGBT people participating in the Pride.
June 2015: LGBT people actively campaigned for LGBT rights during the political campaigns leading up to the general elections on 7 June 2015.The LGBT organization SPoD LGBTI had formulated an open LGBTI rights pledge and asked candidates to publicly sign it. By signing the aforementioned pledge, the candidates promised to defend LGBTI rights in the parliament. More than 40 candidates signed the pledge. All of them are either from the secularist centre-left opposition party CHP or from the pro-Kurdish opposition party HDP.
April 2015: The pro-Kurdish party HDP pleads for equal rights in Turkey in their election manifesto for the general elections on 7 June: ““Our party ensures that LGBTI people will live an equal and proud life by eliminating discrimination and oppression based on sexual orientation and gender identity against a system rising upon the prevalent heterosexism which denies and ignores the diversity of sexual orientation and gender identity.” 
March 2015: LGBT rights activist Barış Sulu got elected as candidate for the general elections on 7 June 2015. He was the first openly gay running for parliament in Turkey. Unfortunately, he didn’t get elected as an MP.
February 2015: Ertugrul Kurkçu, MP from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), asked the Labour and Social Security Minister Faruk Celik if they will begin taking actions about sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination in employment.  Minister Celik did not count LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex) among disadvantaged groups in the labour force participation while answering the proposed motion Mahmut Tanal from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) presented in November 2014.
August 2014: During the campaign leading up to the presidential elections, HDP candidate Selahattin Demirtaş openly pleaded for equal rights and equal citizenship for LGBT people in Turkey.
On Sunday 30 March 2014 municipal elections took place in Turkey. In Istanbul, the secularist centre-left  CHP and the pro-Kurdish HDP presented several LGBT ( Lesbian , Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) people stood for election. For the HDP Asya Elmas (Istanbul’s district of Kadıköy), Şevval Kılıç (Istanbul’s district of Şişli), Ebru Kırancı (Istanbul’s district of Beyoğlu) ran for office. Unfortunately, none of them got elected.
June 2013: The pro-Kurdish party HDP proposed a bill so that LGBT people would have constitutional protection from discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. The CHP backed the proposal. This proposal was blocked by the AKP and the MHP.
MP’s of the HDP are always participating in the annual LGBT Pride Parade in Istanbul.
Source: http://kaosgl.com   
MHP
Like the conservative AKP, right-wing nationalist MHP takes a rather conservative stance when it comes to equal rights for LGBT people. Apart from some positive statements by some MP’s, MHP’s track record is not that long.
June 2015: LGBT people actively campaigned for LGBT rights during the political campaign leading up to the general elections on 7 June. The LGBT organization SPoD LGBTI had formulated an open LGBTI rights pledge and asked candidates to publicly sign it. By signing the aforementioned pledge, the candidates promised to defend LGBTI rights in the parliament. By now, more than 40 candidates signed the pledge. All of them are either from the secularist opposition party CHP or from the pro-Kurdish opposition party HDP. SPoD LGBTI also contacted the ruling AKP and the nationalist opposition party MHP, but none of the candidates of the AKP and HDP signed the pledge.
June 2013: The pro-Kurdish party HDP proposed a bill so that LGBT people would have constitutional protection from discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. The CHP backed the proposal. This proposal was blocked by the AKP and the MHP.
September 2012: MHP met with LGBT organization Kaos GL. The meeting was held in MHP’s headquarters following an invitation by MP Ruhsar Demirel, who is a member of Committee on Equality of Opportunity for Women and Men; and Health Family Labour and Social Works Committee of Turkish Parliament. “The situation of trans-women who work as sex workers should be considered in terms of both health and human rights of trans women and public health,” Demirel said after the meeting.
LGBT people and Turkish military.
The Turkish army has amended the rules of medical examinations, ending some practices that humiliated homosexual men and drew harsh criticism from Turkish LGBT organisations.
Turkey makes it difficult for potential conscriptees to avoid the compulsory military service, generally making exceptions only for those who are sick, disabled or homosexual. To receive an exemption based on their sexual orientation, men must publicly declare they are gay — a declaration that ensures discrimination will follow them for the rest of their lives. It's either that, or they must successfully hide their sexual orientation for a year.
To receive the exemption men also had to prove their homosexuality by undergoing nude examinations and submitting photos of themselves engaged in homosexual intercourse.
This practice was denounced by both Turkish and international LGBT organisations and human rights organisations.  In November 2015, however, the Turkish military silently amended the most controversial provisions in the regulation. Doctors will now merely observe the behaviors homosexuals display and the verbal declarations they make. In other words, a homosexual can choose to disclose or not to disclose his identity. If he does, this declaration will constitute the sole basis for the doctor's decision.
The change represents a major step toward aligning Turkey's military with the norms for basic human rights. This overhaul in the pre-draft medical examination is a revolution on the part of the Turkish military. Allowing homosexual men to voluntarily disclose or conceal their identities amounts to a shift to a “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
Sources and interesting websites
www.kaosgl.com                                                                                                         http://researchturkey.org/summary-results-of-the-social-and-economic-problems-of-lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transsexual-lgbt-individuals-in-turkey-research/                                            
http://lgbtinewsturkey.com/                                                                                       



maandag 26 oktober 2015

Turkije: Alevieten, gelijke rechten voor Alevieten en wie maakt er werk van.

 Het Alevitisme in Turkije.

In Turkije wonen ongeveer 20 miljoen Alevieten. Hiertoe behoren zowel Turken als Koerden.

Het Alevitisme als een wereldbeschouwing, geloofsovertuiging en cultuur heeft zijn oorsprong in de grote volksverhuizingen van Turkse stammen vanuit Centraal Azië naar Anatolië in de 9e en 10e eeuw. Hoewel het Soennisme en het Alevitisme beiden tot de islam behoren, zijn de verschillen tussen deze twee stromingen groot. Het Alevitisme komt voort uit Shi’itische stroming en heeft hun eigen specifieke cultuurbeleving, religieuze uiting en levensbeschouwing.



Hacı Bektaş Veli is een van de grote Alevitische geleerden. Ook Celaleddin Rumi en Yunus Emre worden als belangrijke personen binnen het Alevitisme gezien.


Binnen het Alevitisme is de mens verantwoordelijk voor zichzelf, en dit op alle gebieden. Niet God, maar de mens is de wetgever op aarde. De Alevieten hebben een groot respect voor ieders geloof en belijdenis, wat ook zijn of haar overtuiging moge zijn. Zoals de grote Alevitische geleerde Hacı Bektaş Veli ooit zei : “De mens zelf is degene die uiting en richting geeft aan het geloof".

Alevieten komen niet samen in moskees , maar in cemevi’s . Bij Soenitische moslims bidden mannen en vrouwen apart. Bij Alevieten bidden mannen en vrouwen samen in dezelfde plek in de cemevi. De vastenperiode bij Alevieten is veel korter en de Hadj wordt meestal niet uitgevoerd. Sommige Alevieten zien zichzelf als moslim(a), anderen zien zichzelf niet als moslim(a), maar eerder als humanist(e). De meeste Alevitische vrouwen dragen geen hoofddoek. Uitzondering hierop is als ze in een Cemevi, de gebedsplaatsen van Alevieten, zijn. Dan dragen de meeste vrouwen wel een hoofddoek. Al zijn ook daar vrouwen die geen hoofddoek dragen.
 

Semah, de spirituele 'dans' van de Alevieten.

De semah is een rituele ‘dans’ die specifiek is voor de Alevitische cultuur en religie.
De semah wordt alleen op de cem en bij uitzondering tijdens andere belangrijke gebeurtenissen uitgevoerd. Met de semah stellen Alevieten zich ‘open voor God en de mensen’ en ‘maken zij hun liefde voor God en de mens zichtbaar’. Iedere streek in Turkije kent zijn eigen semah. Er zijn dus regionale verschillen .
Mannen en vrouwen voeren samen de spirituele dans uit. De semah komt ook voor in het soefisme bij bijvoorbeeld de Mevlevi-orde van Mevlana Rumi. Zowel in het Alevitisme als in het Soefisme wordt beweerd dat Mohammed en de voorgaande profeten ook aan de semah hebben gedaan . De semah gebeurd op muziek dat geproduceerd wordt door het bespelen van de saz, een Turks snaarinstrument. Vaak wordt er ook bij gezongen.



Politieke overtuidgingen van Alevieten.

Alevieten zijn uitgesproken voorstanders van het secularisme als staatsvorm. In tal van Cemevi's hangt naast afbeeldingen van Ali en Hacı Bektaş Veli, ook afbeeldingen van Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, de stichter van de seculiere republiek Turkije. Bij Alevieten zijn mannen en vrouwen gelijk, zowel in de Islam als de bredere samenleving. 'Onderwijs de vrouwen, een natie die zijn vrouwen niet onderwijst zal geen progressie boeken ' , zei Hacı Bektaş Veli. Onderwijs, hoger en universitair onderwijs en buitenshuis werken voor vrouwen wordt binnen de Alevitische gemeenschap sterk aangemoedigd.

Op politiek vlak zijn de meeste Alevieten links-progressief. De meeste Turkse Alevieten in Turkije stemmen op de seculiere centrumlinkse CHP.

De meeste Koerdische Alevieten in Turkije stemmen op de pro-Koerdische HDP.


Op zondag 29 maart werden er interne verkiezingen gehouden door de seculiere oppositiepartij CHP, dit voor het bepalen van de (top)kandidaten voor de parlementsverkiezingen op 7 juni eerder dit jaar. De CHP was de enigste partij in Turkije die interne verkiezingen houdt voor de bepaling van hun (top)kandidaten. Het waren vooral Alevi en vrouwelijke kandidaten die voldoende stemmen kregen om hoog op de lijsten te staan. Ongeveer 80% van alle kandidaten die genoeg stemmen kregen waren Alevi’s. De meerderheid van de verkozenen parlementsleden van de CHP zijn Alevieten. Voor de vervroegde parlementsverkiezingen op 1 november 2015 zijn er evenveel Alevitische kandidaten dan op 7 juni.

Trouwens, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, nationaal voorzitter van de CHP, is een Turks-Koerdische Aleviet.
De overgrote meerderheid van de Alevieten wantrouwen de AK parti en moeten niets van die partij hebben.

Alevieten hebben in 2013 massaal deelgenomen aan de Gezi Park-betogingen. De Gezi Park betogingen begon met een actie ( die begon op 28 mei 2013 ) van een 150tal ecologisten die een sit-in hielden tegen plannen om het Gezi park te kappen en er een shopping centrum te plaatsen. Na hardhandig optreden van de oproerpolitie evolueerde de sit-in in weken durende massabetogingen van honderdduizenden Turken in verschillende steden in Turkije. Wat begon als een protest om ecologische redenen monde uit in grootschalig protest tegen wat de betogers noemen het autoritaire en conservatieve beleid van de AKP-regering. Onder de betogers heel veel homo’s en transgenders , Alevieten, jongeren, seculiere vrouwen en mannen, Koerden, Kemalisten, politici van de CHP en HDP, mensenrechtenactivisten , milieu-activisten, vredesactivisten, vakbondsmilitanten, extreem-linksen en zelfs gelovige moslims en moslima’s van de anti-kapitalistische moslims.

In totaal hebben volgens de politie ongeveer 3 500 000 mensen deelgenomen aan de Gezi Park betogingen in 2013.De politie trad hard op . 7 betogers en 1 politieagent lieten het leven. De politie kreeg achteraf veel kritiek van zowel Turkse als internationale mensenrechtenorganisaties omdat ze disproportioneel optraden en zo het recht op betogen ernstig onder druk kwam te staan.

Alle betogers die om het leven kwamen door politieoptredens waren Alevieten.
 

Discriminatie van Alevieten.
 
De Alevieten eisen gelijke rechten en gelijke behandeling , waaronder onder andere erkenning op nationaal vlak van cemevi’s, de gebedsplaatsen van Alevieten, en een eerlijk deel in het budget van het Diyanet.
In Turkije zijn er 84,684 moskees, 937 cemevi’s , 350 kerken en 26 synagoges. De volledige begroting van het directoraat voor religieuze zaken is echter volledig afgestemd op de moskees van de Soennitische moslimgemeenschap in Turkije.
De Alevieten wantrouwen de AKP-regering en zijn bezorgd over een aantal beslissingen binnen de hoge raad van onderwijs begin december 2014.

De verplichte godsdienstklassen worden uitgebreid naar het volledige basisonderwijs. Godsdienstonderwijs is nu verplicht in het basisonderwijs en het secundair onderwijs. Er lag ook een voorstel klaar om godsdienstonderwijs te introduceren in het kleuteronderwijs , maar dat voorstel is weg gestemd geweest. In de plaats komen er  lesuren rond waarden en normen.

Zo zijn de Alevieten niet te spreken over het verplichte karakter van de lessen en over de inhoud van de lessen. Volgens de Alevi’s wordt er te eenzijdig gefocust op Soennitische Islam , dit terwijl er een grote diversiteit is aan levensbeschouwelijke overtuigingen in Turkije.

Op datzelfde congres lag ook een voorstel ter stemming om het Alevitisme op gelijkwaardige basis op te nemen in het curriculum van de godsdienstlessen . Dit voorstel is weggestemd.

De AK parti regering heeft dit akkoord toen geprezen.

Madımak-aanslag in Sivas.
 

Op 2 juli 2015 was het 22 jaar geleden dat het bloedbad van Sivas plaatsvond. Op 2 juli 1993 kwamen 33 Alevitische artiesten, kunstenaars en intellectuelen om het leven na een aanval van een woedende menigte bij hotel Madımak. Het hotel, waar de Alevieten waren samengekomen voor het cultuurfestival Pir Sultan Abdal, werd in brand gestoken door extremisten.

Van de extremisten die zijn opgepakt, zijn bij vonnis van 28 november 1997 door de Staatsveiligheidsrechtbank 33 daders voor hun rol in het bloedbad ter dood veroordeeld. Bij hoger vonnis van 2001 werd dit teruggebracht tot 31 daders. In 2002 werd de doodstraf afgeschaft in Turkije en werden de straffen omgezet in levenslang.

 In 2012 stelde de centrum-linkse  oppositiepartij CHP (partij van Atatürk)  een wetsvoorstel voor om verjaring uit te sluiten, zodat zij alsnog berecht konden worden. De AKP was hier niet voor te vinden. Uiteindelijk zijn 7 aangeklaagden niet veroordeeld geweest wegens verjaring van de feiten.

In de Turkse stad Sivas kwamen tienduizenden Alevieten samen om te slachtoffers te herdenken en gerechtigheid te eisen.

"Onze harten zijn vol verdriet en pijn wegens de 22ste herdenking van één van de meest gewelddadige en pijnlijkste slachtingen in de geschiedenis van Anatolië", aldus Hidayet Yıldırım, woordvoerder van Alevitische stichting Alevi Pir Sultan Abdal.

Yıldırım riep op tot gerechtigheid en berechting van de daders: de Alevieten vinden het onacceptabel dat de rechtszaak tegen een aantal verdachten is beëindigd sinds de rechtbank in 2013 oordeelde dat de zaak verjaard is. Ook vinden ze dat de burgemeester ( van de Refah partisi) van Sivas van toen onvoldoende maatregelen heeft genomen om de bestorming en in brand steken van het hotel te voorkomen.

Bij de herdenking waren ook politici aanwezig, onder wie zo'n 60 leden van de CHP, waaronder Zeynep Altıok, Şenal Sarıhan, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu en zijn vrouw Selvi Kılıçdaroğlu. .

Ook in andere Turkse steden werden grote solidariteitsmanifestaties gehouden.

Gelijke rechten voor Alevieten , wie maakt er werk van?

Begin dit jaar (2015) startte de CHP-besturen in hun steden/gemeentes al de procedure tot lokale erkenning van de cemevi’s , de gebedsplaatsen voor Alevieten. Ondertussen hebben zo’n 100 steden/gemeentes met een CHP-burgemeester de cemevi’s , gebedshuizen voor Alevi’s , op hun grondgebied erkend.

In de honderd steden/gemeentes waar de cemevi’s op lokaal vlak zijn erkend voorziet het stads/gemeentebestuur in de betaling van de elektriciteits- en waterfactuur, logistieke ondersteuning en alle andere voordelen die moskees genieten op lokaal vlak.

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, nationale voorzitter van de CHP, roept de AKP-regering op om de Cemevi’s op nationaal niveau te erkennen.

Ook de pro-Koerdische HDP startte met de lokale erkenning van Cemevi's en riep de AK parti regering op het Alevitisme en de Cemevi's op nationaal vlak te erkennen en gelijk te behandelen.

Eerder dit jaar (2015) zei het hooggerechtshof in Turkije dat de AKP-regering de Cemevi’s , de gebedshuizen van Alevieten, moet vrijstellen van het betalen van de elektriciteits- , gas- en waterfactuur. Moskees, kerken en synagogen moeten die niet betalen. Cemevi’s moeten die tot op vandaag nog steeds betalen. In december 2014 oordeelde het Europese Hof van de Rechten van de Mens (EHRM) al dat Turkije discrimineert door synagogen, kerken en moskeeën wel vrij te stellen van de kosten voor elektriciteit, maar Cemevi’s niet. Cemevi’s moeten die kosten zelf betalen omdat zij niet officieel worden erkend als gebedshuizen.

Volgens de pro- AK parti-krant Sabah is de AK parti -regering al een tijdje bezig met het voorbereiden van een pakket maatregelen om de discriminatie tegenover Alevieten aan te pakken. Het is onduidelijk wat in dit pakket staat en hoever ze zijn in de bespreking hiervan binnen de regering. Verder moet worden opgemerkt dat de Sabah dit al jaren schrijft.
 


Bronnen.


Alevitische Culturele Vereniging: http://www.abkyol.nl/nl/

Hürriyet: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/

Sabah: http://www.dailysabah.com/
 
 



Al-Monitor:  http://al-monitor.com