Around 150 participants were arrested when police on Sunday stopped a pride parade in Istanbul. According to eyewitnesses, a few hundred people participated in the parade at Taksim Square, before police prevented the participants from moving on. The police intervened “by force” according to the news agency AFP. There are no reports of injuries. “We will not give up, we are not afraid. We will continue our activities in safe places and on the internet,” the Istanbul Pride Committee wrote on Twitter. Pride parades have been held in Istanbul since 2003, but have been banned in the country since 2015. Before that, it was not uncommon to see thousands of LGBTQ activists marching in Istanbul. In 2014, more than 100,000 people participated. All parades over the past four years have been violently suppressed by the police. Authorities claim that the ban on pride parades was issued for security reasons, but LGBTQ organizations accuse the Turkish government of waging a hate campaign against them. See when the parade is interrupted by police in the player above.
t4-general
Pride parade stopped by police in Istanbul – about 150 people arrested
