Pride Month, which commenced today (June 1), marked the final day of a marathon of three hearings involving 70 students, exchange students, an academic, and a journalist.
They are under investigation for participating in the 9th Pride Parade held at the prestigious Boğaziçi University on May 20, 2022, and face charges of up to three years imprisonment for "resisting the police and opposing demonstration laws."
The parade, held during the university's Taşoda Music Festival, took a violent turn when students tried to make their way to the clubroom of BÜLGBTİA+, the school's LGBTI+ studies club that had been closed the year prior by controversial and now dismissed trustee rector Melih Bulu.
'I will kill you'
On the third day of the hearing, echoing the previous days, the defendants, mostly in their early twenties, vehemently asserted their right to freedom of expression and protest while highlighting the excessive police violence.
"I believe nobody here is guilty. The police arrived suddenly and began assaulting everyone. It appeared as though they were enjoying it. They grabbed me, hit my face, and laughed at me while taking me into custody. The police mocked me with their looks. I witnessed them grabbing someone's throat and squeezing it, despite them saying they can't beath. 'I will kill you' they said," an exchange student from the Netherlands conveyed through a translator, further pleading not guilty as they were exercising their freedom of speech and defending human rights.
İstanbul police chief again singled out
Once again, students consistently singled out İstanbul Police Chief Hanifi Zengin. One defendant described how they were taken into custody by the security head while not participating in the march.
"I went to see what was going on and was detained. Then Hanifi Zengin came and said, 'Are you so curious? Come and see your friends then,' and grabbed me by the arm," they explained.
Another student asserted only encountering Zengin during protests and accused him of being inclined towards apprehending and mistreating women and LGBTI+ individuals.
"I see him 10 times a year: At İstanbul Convention protests, Pride Marches, and March 8. I only see him during protests. What is his job description? I only see him detaining people and giving orders for beatings," the student claimed during their statement.
Zengin has been under public scrutiny over his maltreatment of LGBTI+ activists, journalists, and demonstrators, with numerous complaints filed against him for alleged "harassment" and accusations of "physical assault, torture, and mistreatment."
"As far as I understand, he has an interest in women and LGBTI+ people. If so, I can suggest some cases to him. I can suggest the case of Hande Kader, who was burned to death, and the case of Ahmet Yıldız. We have been looking for Gülistan Doku for years, I can recommend this case," they vented, adding that they should investigate protests organized by sects calling for the death penalty for LGBTI+ people.
Hande Kader was a transgender woman, sex worker, and LGBTI+ activist whose tragic death in 2016 sparked outrage. Her remains, subjected to rape and burning, were discovered in an İstanbul suburb. BÜLGBTİA+ erected a scholarship in her name. However, the grant was later revoked by Boğaziçi's presidency in 2017.
The 2008 murder of openly gay Ahmet Yıldız by his father has been labeled as one of Turkey's earliest instances of gay honor killing.
Gülistan Doku was a university student who went missing in January 2020 in Dersim. Her story has become a symbol of the ongoing struggle for women's rights, safety, and justice, and Doku's name is often chanted at Women's marches.
A total of 55 people, including one faculty member and one journalist, have taken the defense so far. The next hearing will be held on November 2.
Protests and LGBTI+ matters
Protests and unrest, often circling back to LGBTI+ matters, have engulfed Boğaziçi University following President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's contentious decision in 2021 to appoint Melih Bulu, a member of his party, as the rector. This move circumvented the institution's long-standing democratic tradition.
One of Bulu's first decisions was banning the LGBTI+ studies club. Furthermore, the university administration initiated an investigation against a student for displaying a "rainbow flag" during protests on February 1, 2021.
A dozen more students were apprehended on March 25, 2021, when they displayed solidarity by unfurling a rainbow flag on the day of the trial hearing. This case was later postponed and coincided with pride week.
More recently, Bulu's successor banned LGBTI+ film screenings on campus.
Second-worst on the Rainbow Index
In recent years, LGBTI+ rights have taken a nosedive in Turkey, currently ranking second-worst on ILGA Europe's Rainbow Index.
This decline has been accompanied by the increasing prominence of LGBTI+phobia in both the country's public and political domains.
Large-scale anti-LGBTI+ rallies have been held and openly endorsed by politicians of Turkey's ruling party, while İstanbul Pride has been banned since 2015.
During his recent campaign trail, President Erdoğan has weaponized LGBTI+ phobia, referring to the opposition as LGBT and denouncing these groups as "perverted movements" in his victory speech after securing his third term on Sunday (May 28).
Adding fuel to the fire, alliance members have publicly pledged to shut down all LGBTI+ associations in the country, while Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu suggested that the term LGBT includes marriages between animals and humans.
