Every Saturday for 23 years, dozens of people have held a vigil in a central Istanbul square, sitting in silence and holding pictures of relatives who went missing in police detention. The group was about to stage their 700th demonstration last Saturday when Turkish police told them their protest was banned, before firing tear gas […]
Continue ReadingTurkish police deployed in central Istanbul on Sunday to enforce a ban on the city’s annual gay and transgender pride march, blocking off a main street and dispersing groups of demonstrators who gathered nearby. Police with riot shields and helmets sealed off entrances to Istiklal Street, where organisers had planned to hold the march before […]
Continue ReadingIstanbul riot police fired tear gas and rubber pellets on Sunday to disperse a march for transgender people banned after ultra-nationalists said that “degenerates” could not demonstrate. Hundreds of riot police cordoned off the city’s main Taksim Square to prevent the “Trans Pride” rally taking place during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Authorities have […]
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