Turkey: prosecutor considers lesbian love to be obscene

*Bianet

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office initiated an investigation on the book "The 'L' State of Love" by Burcu Ersoy which was part of the "From Women to Women Story Contest" carried out by the Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity Association (Kaos GL).

The prosecutor's office reasoned the investigation by claiming that lesbianism is "an unnatural sexual relation" and "obscene".

Zeliş Deniz, member of LambdaIstanbul, a Turkish LGBT organization advocating for LGBT people's human rights, objected to the given reason for the investigation: "In is unacceptable to consider and perceive lesbianism as "abnormal" in world that does not regard homosexuality as a disease".

"Erotic and pornographic publications for heterosexuals can be printed, but at the same time an investigation is initiated on a book telling love stories between women. This is nothing else but homophobia", Deniz added.

Publisher reacts to investigation
İrfan Sancı, owner of Sel Publishing where the book was published, announced on kaosgl.org, "The attempt of prosecuting our book for this reason is like ridiculing the the people's current state of mind".

The "From Women to Women Story Contest" was initiated by Kaos GL in the scope of the Meeting Against Homophobia organized for the 4th year. "The 'L' State of Love" was contributed by Burcu Ersoy and has been published at Sel Publishing in October this year.

In the investigation launched 10 weeks after the publication of the book, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office referred to a statement of publisher Sancı.

Sancı pointed out that the book was part of the story contest. He indicated, "There are no expressions in the book that remind of obscenity as defined by the law. On the contrary, it consists of naive stories of love between women with a literary concern". Sancı added that he does not agree with the prosecutor's findings.

The never-ending story of "public morality"
LamdaIstanbul member Deniz said that once more the "public morality" is put forward in the context of LGBT people in Turkey: "Discrimination against people who are not heterosexual arises again. We will experience this sort of investigations, the closure of associations and the confiscation of magazines if article 10 of the constitution on equality is not amended by including sexual orientation and gender identity".

Publisher Sancı is tried at the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance under the allegation of "spreading obscenity" regarding his publishing of the books "The Fairy's Pendulum" by Ben Mila, "The Amorous Exploits of a Young Rakehell" by Guillaume Apollinaire and "Letters of a Well-Mannered and Knowledgeable Bourgeois Women" by French writer P.V.

The Prime Ministry Board for the Protection of Children from Harmful Publications banned the novel "Third Class Women" by Anıl Alacaoğlu published by Minima Publishing. Saying that the book "harms children under the age of 18" the board decided for the sale and banned any advertisements regarding the book.

Turkey: LGBT rights report, novel about transsexual, gay referee scandal, homophobic media, and gay pride in Istanbul

Over the last couple of months, some important developments happened in Turkey related to LGBT rights in the country. Below is a selection of links which reflect the main news:

1. Report: Human rights violations against LGBT people in Turkey 2008

2. Report warns: continuing homophobia in the media

In a published report entitled "End Homophobia in the Media", the Kaos GL association criticised the continued use of stereotypes and display of homophobia.

3. Istanbul: 3,000 People in LGBTT Pride March

The 17th LGBTT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transvestite and transsexual) Pride Week ended with a Pride March in Taksim, central Istanbul, on Sunday (28 June).

Read also Elizabeth's personal reflections: Istanbul Pride (+ photo, above)

4. Gay referee scandal:

The Independent: Gay referee gets red card in Turkey
(+ photo, via AFP/Getty Images)

After coming out on TV, Halil Dincdag sues football federation over sacking.

EurasiaNet: Football referee, barred for being homosexual, fights for rights

5. Novel about Transsexual Banned for Under-18s

A Prime Ministerial board has banned advertisement for the novel "Third Class Woman" by Anıl Alacaoğlu.

Turkey: LGBT Pride week and march, Pink Istanbul, homophobia and transphobia

1. LGBT Pride Week in Turkey in June
The 17th Gay Pride Week will take place in Turkey from 22 to 28 June. The Hormone Tomatoes anti-homophobia (anti-transphobia) awards will be presented, and a Gay Pride March will take place in Istanbul.

A survey to find this years recipients for the Hormone Tomatoes awards. is being carried out by the Lambda Istanbul organisation. In previous years, institutions like the Turkish Armed Forces, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) and the Vakit newspaper, as well as individuals from show business, politics, and journalism have been nominated.

(Bianet)

2. “Pink Istanbul” event against homophobia and transphobia (Istanbul, 4 April)
The Pink Amsterdam event which was organised previously to draw attention to homophobia and transphobia in Amsterdam and Istanbul came to Istanbul for the first time. There was a conference and a night of music with DJs and musicians.

(Bianet)

3. "Attacks and murders in Eskisehir, Bursa and Edirne in Turkey" (statement by LGBTT Rights Platform, a collective of LGBT groups in Turkey)

A transsexual woman was attacked and beaten in Eskisehir. A transsexual woman was found her head cut in Bursa. A man has been killed by his friend on the claim that he asked for sexual intercourse.

(Transgenders in Armenia)

Turkey: Transgender Activist Murdered (Human Rights Watch)

Human Rights Watch: The killing of Ebru Soykan, a prominent transgender human rights activist, on March 10, 2009, shows a continuing climate of violence based on gender identity that authorities should urgently take steps to combat, Human Rights Watch said today. News reports and members of a Turkish human rights group said that an assailant stabbed and killed Ebru, 28, in her home in the center of Istanbul.

Members of Lambda Istanbul, which works for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and transsexual (LGBTT) people, told Human Rights Watch that in the last month Ebru had asked the Prosecutor's Office for protection from the man who had beaten her on several occasions and threatened to kill her. Lambda Istanbul was told that a few weeks ago police detained the man but released him two hours later. The same man is under police custody as the murder suspect.

[...] This is the second killing of a member of Lambda Istanbul in the past year. In July 2008, an unknown person shot and killed 26-year-old Ahmet Yildiz as he was leaving a café near the Bosporus. No one has been charged with this crime. [...]

A May 2008 Human Rights Watch report on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Turkey, "We Need a Law for Liberation," documents the long and continuing history of violence and abuse based on sexual orientation and gender identity there. A subsequent December 2008 report specifically documents police violence in the country and features cases of harassment and abuses against transgender people in Istanbul.

In these reports, Human Rights Watch called on Turkey to pass legislation protecting against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Turkey LGBT news update: Bülent Ersoy, Lambda Istanbul, EU report, UN statement, PEN Turkey

1. Famous transsexual Turkish singer Bülent Ersoy (I wrote about her case in one of my earlier posts) has been acquitted of charges of criticising mandatory military service in Turkey. The decision was made on grounds of freedom of speech during a court hearing:

The law firm of Muhittin Yuzuak says Friday that their client, singer Bulent Ersoy, was acquitted during a hearing Thursday on grounds of freedom of speech. Ersoy is one of Turkey’s best-loved singers.

Ersoy has acknowledged saying on television that if she had children she would not want them to join the army to battle Kurdish rebels who are fighting for self-rule.
The European Union, which Turkey wants to join, is pressing the nation to do away with laws that stifle free expression.

Under EU pressure, Turkey amended a law in April that barred the denigration of Turkish identity and institutions. But human rights groups say the changes did not go far enough.

Bianet also reported the case:

Famous transsexual singer Bülent Ersoy is acquitted of the accusation of “alienating people from military service”, which she faced for her words during a TV show that if she had a son she would not send him to the war with the PKK in the east.

2. Court overturns shutdown of Istanbul-based Turkish gay rights group Lambda Istanbul (via Kaos):

Turkey's Supreme Court on Nov. 27 overturned a decision to dissolve the gay group Lambda Istanbul.

A lower court had agreed with city officials who claimed the organization was unlawful, immoral and against family values.

“Finally, justice has arrived,” Lambda said in an English-language statement. “We are stronger now with the overturn of the decision to close down Lambda Istanbul LGBTT Solidarity Association. As people who face violence, who get expelled from our jobs, who are excluded and isolated, who are denied their legal rights, our voices will now multiply; and as the LGBTT movement we will be louder when we shout out our right to equality.”

“Decisions influenced by prejudices will remain inevitable, and inequality, discrimination and intense human rights violations will prevail as long as ‘sexual orientation' and ‘gender identity' are not added to the equality clause of the constitution,” the group said.

Lambda has been in existence since 1993 and has been officially registered for two years. The group continued to operate during the appeals process.

3. Previously, the EU Commission issued a report on Turkey reflecting the state with the LGBT rights specifically mentioning Lambda Istanbul case and more, including the rejection of registration of the Turkish Armenian Business Development Council:

The registration of the Turkish Armenian Business Development Council was rejected by the Governorate of Istanbul, without clear legal grounds. Following a case brought by the Istanbul Governorate, an Istanbul court decided in May to close down a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual (LGBTT) association. The Istanbul Governorate is accusing Amnesty International (AI) of illegal money collection. The competent Istanbul Administrative Court heard the case and decided in favor of AI. The Governor has appealed the case before the Council of State.

4. Regarding the UN statement against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, a statement issued by a LGBT Rights Platform composed of various LGBT organizations and initiatives in Turkey called for Turkish government to endorse it. LGBT rights groups specifically noted that “The Turkish government is one of the only candidates to European Union that has declined to support” the groundbreaking UN statement.

Following the UN statement, Turkish Hurriyet newspaper said that “Turkey breaks company with EU in gay vote”.

In an atmosphere where Turkey is being criticized for the slow pace of its EU reforms, the country refuses to sign a declaration calling all states to take steps to stop the criminalization of homosexuality, contradicting its commitments to the EU in promoting human rights. […]

"It’s very frustrating for Turks who wish the state to become a member of the EU. Turkey’s position with regard to this issue is more important than Cyprus to us," an EU ambassador told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review after it became clear that Ankara declined to join the 27 EU countries who endorsed the groundbreaking initiative. […]

"Turkey is the only country among the candidate members of the EU that refused to sign the declaration," said Barış Sulu, head of Ankara-based Pembe Hayat, one of the leading Turkish lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, or LGBT, association. "We want the government to protect and encourage everyone to protect human rights for everyone without discriminating the sexual identity or sexual tendencies," Sulu added.

Homosexuality is not a crime according to Turkish laws. However, "we are not defined in the Turkish constitution’s prohibition of discrimination or the social and civil rights," said Ozan Gezmiş, an activist from the MorEl Eskişehir LGBT group. "We are ignored and ignorance is the utmost violence," Gezmiş said.

"Turkey should vote for human rights on this issue, if it regards itself as a European country. But, we all know this is Turkey’s contradiction, where it tries to be European while on the other hand, acting parallel to Islam countries," Pelin Kalkan said, speaking on behalf of Ankara-based Kaos GL, another leading Turkish LGBT organization.

5. And the latest news. PEN Turkey calls the government to recognise the rights of LGBT people.

Tarık Günersel, President of PEN Turkey, called upon the government and the public to take action to respect the rights of the homosexuals.

Reminding that 64 countries signed the decision to end making homosexualism a crime at the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Günersel said, “The rights of the homosexuals are a part of the human rights that cannot be ignored.”

Sayin “The Turkish government must realize, accept and confirm this fact”, the President of the PEN Turkey said, “It is much better to be the 65th than the 165th.”

Turkey: Transexuals and transvestites under police pressure

Police are putting increasing pressure on transsexuals and transvestites, a prominent human rights organization complained at a recent press meeting, daily Taraf reported yesterday.

"The police are only ignoring our complaints and keep pressuring us. They are arresting transsexuals not based on the law but however they want," said one member of the Women's Door Association.

The meeting also included the Lambda Istanbul Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Transsexual, or LGBTT, Solidarity Association, which has been threatened with closure by the courts in recent months.

Speakers at the meeting said the police were charging transvestites and transsexuals fines based on a law called the “misdemeanor law.”

“We have complained to the police about what is happening. But the pressures have only increased. During the past month, they started checking our ID when walking down the street and even putting us in their cars, driving far out of the city and leaving us in abandoned places," said sociologist Eylem Çağdaş. "There are police cars with black windows driving around our houses."

The statement by the association was also supported by other NGOs, such as the Red Umbrella Sex Workers' Network and Global Action Group.

*source (11 September 2008 - Turkish Press Scanner)

**Read also:

Police officers in Turkey on trial for assaulting transsexual

Famous transsexual singer sued for "alienating people from military service"

Fighting back tears on stage - a standing ovation to Turkish transsexuals

Court orders closure of gay rights group in Turkey

ISTANBUL (Reuters) The only gay rights association in Istanbul has been ordered to close by a Turkish court, after a prosecutor claimed that it broke public morality laws.

It was claimed, in a court in the Beyoglu district of Istanbul, that the aims of LambdaIstanbul broke the law for the protection of family and public morality.

LambdaIstanbul, which will appeal against the decision at the Court of Appeals, will be the first gay rights association to be closed by the European Union candidate nation.

Although homosexuality is legal in Turkey there are no laws to protect homosexuals from discrimination.

“We are in a country where a closure case has been opened against the ruling party. The political atmosphere is antidemocratic and it lacks tolerance,” Bawer Cakir, a gay rights activist, said.  /emphasis mine/

***

Human Rights Watch

The Turkish authorities must decide whether nongovernmental organizations are fair game for harassment, or full partners in a free society.

Emma Sinclair-Webb, Turkey researcher

Istanbul/New York, June 02, 2008) – A Turkish court’s decision to disband a human rights organization defending lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people shows that official repression poses a serious threat to democratic rights and freedom of association, Human Rights Watch said today.

On May 29, 2008, the Third Civil Court of First Instance in the Beyoðlu district of Istanbul ruled in favor of a complaint brought by the Istanbul Governor’s Office, and ordered the closing of Lambda Istanbul, a group advocating for LGBT people’s human rights. The complaint argued that Lambda Istanbul’s objectives are “against the law and morality.” The court failed to address these claims in its judgment and reached a decision that the association should be closed on purely procedural grounds. The ruling is the latest in a series of legal measures targeting organizations promoting the rights of LGBT people. 

“The judge’s arbitrary decision highlights the prejudiced proceedings,” said Emma Sinclair-Webb, Turkey researcher at Human Rights Watch, who attended the hearing in Istanbul. “If the authorities can close one organization on procedural pretexts, all of civil society is in danger.” 

The judgment referred to article 17 of the Law on Associations and article 60/2 of the Civil Code, which taken together provide for closure of associations if they do not “remedy errors and deficiencies” in their statutes. But the court’s judgment did not specify these “deficiencies.” The proceedings made no reference to these articles before this last hearing on May 29. Neither the Governor’s Office nor the judge or prosecutor raised any such deficiencies in the statutes during previous hearings. 

Lambda Istanbul’s lawyers told Human Rights Watch they will receive a fuller explanation when the court produces a full verdict in the coming weeks. Lambda plans to appeal the decision and the case will be referred to the Court of Cassation. 
The Office of the Governor of Istanbul demanded Lambda Istanbul’s closure in early 2007, claiming the name and objectives of the group were offensive to Turkish “moral values and its family structure.” In July 2007, the local Prosecutor’s Office rejected the complaint, but the Governor’s Office took the case to the courts. The court conducted six hearings before issuing the May 2008 verdict. 

In October 2007, Human Rights Watch researchers met with Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler about the case. Although a department under his authority had initiated the complaint, he stated that the case was out of his hands and a matter for the judiciary. Human Rights Watch researchers and members of Lambda Istanbul met again with Deputy Governor Mustafa Altintas on May 23, 2008. Paradoxically, in view of the ongoing attempt to close the organization, he affirmed the commitment of the Governorate and its affiliated Provincial Human Rights Board to cooperate with Lambda Istanbul in future projects to promote LGBT people’s rights. 

“The Turkish authorities must decide whether nongovernmental organizations are fair game for harassment, or full partners in a free society,” said Sinclair-Webb. “Promotion of tolerance and respect for civil society by the Turkish government is key.” 
In another recent incident, on April 7, 2008, police raided the offices of Lambda Istanbul. 

The police justified the incursion by claiming the organization “encourages” and “facilitates” prostitution. 
Turkish authorities have targeted other LGBT organizations as well. In September 2005, the Ankara Governor’s Office accused the Ankara-based group KAOS-GL of “establishing an organization that is against the laws and principles of morality.” Similarly, the Ankara Governor’s Office attempted in July 2006 to close the human rights group Pembe Hayat (Pink Life), which works with transgender people, claiming to prosecutors that the association opposed “morality and family structure.” In both cases, prosecutors dropped the charges. 

Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, to which Turkey is a party, requires the Turkish authorities, including the judiciary, to protect freedom of association. Any restriction on this right requires convincing and compelling justification. 
On May 21, 2008, Human Rights Watch presented the 123-page report, “‘We Need a Law for Liberation’: Gender, Sexuality, and Human Rights in a Changing Turkey”. The report documents a long and continuing history of violence and abuse based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The report calls on the EU to monitor respect for LGBT people’s basic rights as a barometer of Turkey’s human rights progress.

Turkey: Homophobic Violence Points to Rights Crisis (Human Rights Watch)

"Democracy means defending all people’s basic rights against the dictatorship of custom and the tyranny of hate."
Scott Long
Director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program, HRW

EU Should Insist on Reforms to Counter Persisting Inequality and Abuses
Human Rights Watch
22 May 2008

Turkey should urgently change law and policy to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people from extensive harassment and brutality on the streets, in homes, and in state-run institutions, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. Human Rights Watch also called on the European Union to make Turkey’s membership aspirations contingent on ending endemic abuses and guaranteeing equal rights and protection for LGBT people.

The 123-page report, “‘We Need a Law for Liberation’: Gender, Sexuality, and Human Rights in a Changing Turkey,” documents a long and continuing history of violence and abuse based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Human Rights Watch conducted more than 70 interviews over a three-year period, documenting how gay men and transgender people face beatings, robberies, police harassment, and the threat of murder. The interviews also exposed the physical and psychological violence lesbian and bisexual women and girls confront within their families. Human Rights Watch found that, in most cases, the response by the authorities is inadequate if not nonexistent.

“Democracy means defending all people’s basic rights against the dictatorship of custom and the tyranny of hate,” said Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. “Where lives are at stake, Turkey needs to take concrete action and pass comprehensive legislation to protect them.”

In recent years, Turkish authorities have repeatedly harassed human rights defenders and civil society groups working on issues of gender and sexuality. Most recently, on April 7, 2008, police raided the offices of Lambda Istanbul, a nongovernmental organization that has advocated for LGBT people’s rights for over 10 years. The police justified the incursion by claiming the organization “encourages” and “facilitates” prostitution. The Istanbul Governor’s Office has also filed a lawsuit trying to close down Lambda, arguing its name and objectives are “against the law and morality.” Lambda will once again have to defend its right to exist before the Beyoðlu 3rd Civil Court of First Instance on May 29, 2008.

The report examines a wide range of human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Several transgender people told Human Rights Watch how police tortured and raped them. One gay man recounted how another man stabbed him 17 times in an attempted murder that still remains unsolved. A lesbian couple described how their parents used violence to try to separate them; when they turned to a prosecutor for help, he refused, questioning them instead about their sex life. Human Rights Watch also found that, in a flagrant violation of the European Convention on Human Rights, the Turkish military continues to bar gay men from serving in its forces. At the same time, Turkey withholds any recognition of conscientious objection to military service. Some objectors must instead identify themselves as “sick” – and are forced to undergo humiliating and degrading examinations to “prove” their homosexuality.

The report acknowledges that there have been some positive changes in Turkish law and policy as the country attempts to join the European Union. However, it also calls on the EU to insist on respect for LGBT people’s basic rights as a barometer of Turkey’s human rights progress.

Turkish law offers no express protections for LGBT people’s universal human rights. In 2005, Turkey reviewed some of its laws to bar discrimination, a move meant to show Turkey’s commitment to European Union standards. However, Turkey has yet to adopt a comprehensive antidiscrimination law that conforms to EU standards.

“In the complex path toward European Union accession, this report points to an area where little or nothing has changed,” said Long. “The EU must fully incorporate issues of sexual orientation and gender identity when considering Turkey’s application for membership.”

*/emphasis mine/

Turkey: End Harassment of Gay Rights Groups

Human Rights Watch

(Istanbul, April 16, 2008) – A police raid on a Turkish human rights organization is the latest incident in an escalating pattern of harassment of gay rights groups, Human Rights Watch said today. In a letter to Turkish Minister of Interior Beºir Atalay, Human Rights Watch called on the government to cease official harassment of groups working on sexual orientation and gender identity issues, and to ensure training of all criminal-justice officials in human rights principles.

On April 7, 2008, approximately 12 police in plainclothes entered the headquarters of the Lambda Istanbul Cultural Center, which defends the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Their warrant cited suspicion that Lambda “facilitates prostitution, acts as a go-between [and] provides a place for [prostitution],” criminalized under Article 227 of Turkey’s Penal Code. The raid took place 10 days before an April 17 court hearing in a case against Lambda Istanbul brought by the Istanbul Governor’s Office, accusing the group of violating Turkish “moral values and its family structure.”

“What’s really immoral is the Istanbul authorities’ campaign against Lambda Istanbul for protecting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people,” said Scott Long, director of the LGBT Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. “The government should reform laws that allow officials to harass groups like Lambda Istanbul in order to guarantee everyone’s human rights.”

After a two-hour search the officers took a list of Lambda Istanbul’s members, along with records of its decisions and other documents. The organization’s property has still not been returned. Lambda Istanbul’s attorney told Human Rights Watch that prosecutors informed him the group had been under surveillance since March 2008.

Lambda Istanbul has suffered harassment by the Turkish authorities since 2007, when the Istanbul Governor’s Office demanded its closure, arguing the name and objectives of the group were offensive to Turkish “moral values and its family structure.” The Prosecutor’s Office rejected the complaint in July 2007, but the governor’s office pursued the case to a higher court. After four hearings, the case is still pending.

Under human rights law, including the European Convention on Human Rights, which applies in Turkey, the Turkish authorities must guarantee freedom of association to all, without discrimination.

Turkish LGBTT Group Faces Closure in Istanbul

Below is a press statement about attempts to close one of the leading Turkish LGBTT groups (Lambda Istanbul) in Istanbul. This petition is signed by a number of human rights groups in Turkey.

THE DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION PREVENTS FREEDOM OF ORGANISING LGBTT PEOPLE!

We are asking: Is it immoral to be organized?

Stating that "Not only heterosexuals live in this society!", Turkey's lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transvestite and transsexual (LGBTT) associations are trying to benefit from their freedom of speech in order to fight against the discrimination based on sexual orientation and sexual identity. Turkish LGBTT people are against denial, marginalisation, stigmatisation and violence; they are seeking recognition of their existence in society.

Since 2005, civil groups and associations that apply to gain NGO (non-governmental) status were always confronted with the similar types of obstructions. Attempt to establish “Kaos GL” wanted to be rejected with a claim that "an immoral association cannot be founded". However on October 12 2005, they won their first victory when prosecutors rejected an official demand to shut down a newly-formed LGBTT association.

Now “Lambda Istanbul” faces the same threat of being closed down.

The Turkish Civil Code states that associations against law and morality cannot be established. Because Lambda Istanbul’s title has the words “lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transvestite and transsexual” in it, this association's title and purposes were found to be against the Turkish Civil Code," said the governor's letter sent to public prosecutors and the group, Lambda Istanbul.

The first trial will be held on July 19th, Thursday at 10:00 am.

On January 29, 2004 Turkey's Parliamentary Justice Commission voted to alter the 'discrimination' clause in the Penal Code to include ‘discrimination based on sexual orientation’ as a crime. Turkish LGBT activists praised the legislation that would result in criminal charges against a person who refuses anyone service, housing or employment on the basis of sexual orientation. If the law had passed, Turkey could have became the first predominantly Muslim country to pass such a law.

Although "sexism" and "discrimination against sexual orientation" are different issues of facts (aspects), the Minister of Justice Cemil Cicek claimed that they would express similar things and demanded that the expression "sexual orientation" should be taken out of the main paragraph concerning "discrimination".

Therefore on July 6, 2004 The Parliamentary Justice Commission took up the discrimination clause and decided to replace it with the discrimination clause that exists in the Constitution. According to the Article No.10 of the Turkish Constitution, discrimination based on language, race, skin color, gender, political opinion, religion, denomination and similar reasons is prohibited but it does not directly refer to sexual orientation.

Criteria and conventions must be binding for everybody and everywhere!

We want to remind that the Republic's Chief Prosecutor in Ankara rejected an official demand to shut down a newly-formed LGBTT association (Kaos GL) in Ankara in 2005. The prosecutor said in his ruling that the American Psychiatric Association did not rate homosexuality as a disorder and the words "gay" and "lesbian" were widely used in daily life and scientific research. He also put some international laws into consideration such as: the EU's political criteria, the Accession Partnership Document, the European Convention on Human Rights and supporting international conventions on human rights:

We also remind that both LGBTT associations "Lambdaistanbul," and "Kaos GL," are founded with the same objectives and are working in the frame of the law. We demand to fairness and have the same criteria and conventions in the city of Istanbul as well.

Even before registering to gain a legal NGO status, Lambdaistanbul has been an active organization in the past.

We, as members of below-mentioned Turkish associations that fight for human rights and freedom, are declaring to the public that we will continue to support Lambdaistanbul and its ideals and together resist the discriminatory practices that we face.

Main petitioners:

Kaos Gay-Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity Association

Pembe Hayat Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transvestite and Transsexual Solidarity Association

TPC Women Platform

Co-signers:

Ankara University Gender Studies Group

Ankara Women Platform

“Say Stop! to Racism and Nationalism” Initiative

Kaos GL Ýzmir

Kaosist Homosexual Non-Governmental Initiative

MorEl Eskisehir LGBTT Organisation

*via Kaos GL