Court closes gay rights association
May 30, 2008
Times Online, UK
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.
The ruling Turkish AK party is involved in a constitutional court case and 71 members, including the Prime Minister Recep Erdogan, could be banned because of alleged antisecular activities.
Original Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4029369.ece
Times Online, UK
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.
The ruling Turkish AK party is involved in a constitutional court case and 71 members, including the Prime Minister Recep Erdogan, could be banned because of alleged antisecular activities.
Original Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4029369.ece
