Turkish police detains over 50 in crackdown on Istanbul Pride march

Istanbul, Jun 29 (AP) Turkish authorities detained more than 50 people attempting to march for Istanbul Pride on Sunday as part of its decade long crackdown on the event.
    A heavy police presence in hot spots around the city prevented significant gathering, and the organisation had to change the gathering location multiple times.
    Yildiz Tar, editor-in-chief of the LGBTQ+ rights organisation and the journal Kaos GL, wrote on X that 54 people were detained at Istanbul Pride, including six lawyers.
    As of Sunday evening, seven had been released and 47 were still in detention.
    The Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey, or DISK, announced that at least three journalists were among the detained.
    “The palace regime will not be able to stay in power by demonising the LGBTQ community,” Kezban Konukcu, Member of Parliament from the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party, or DEM, who participated in the event, said.
    Once boasting tens of thousands of participants, Istanbul Pride has been banned since 2015 as the religious conservative Justice and Development Party began playing up to the more conservative elements of its base. (AP) ARI

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)