Turkey, Middle East

Due to its strategic location astride two continents, Turkey's culture has a unique blend of Eastern and Western tradition. Turkey has become increasingly integrated with the West through membership in organizations such as the Council of Europe, NATO and the G-20 major economies. Turkey began full membership negotiations with the European Union in 2005. The human rights of LGBT people in Turkey is one of the most controversial human rights issues in Turkey. Homosexuality is not illegal as such in the Republic of Turkey. However, owing to conservative values embedded in Muslim-majority Turkish society, homosexuality remains a taboo topic in public discourse. The desire of Turkey to join the European Union has forced the government to grant official recognition to LGBT rights organizations, respect a greater degree of the freedom of speech and the press and to entertain gay rights legislation. Gay themed conferences and gatherings now regularly take place, particularly in Istanbul and Ankara. The major LGBT community-based civil rights organization is KAOS GL, established in 1994 in Ankara. Lambda Istanbul, a member of ILGA-Europe, was established in 1993 in Istanbul. It was recently threatened by the District Govenorship. The prosecution argued that its name and activities were “against the law and morality.”  But they lost the case against Lambda. Also see: Islam and Homosexuality