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New York, 28 Sept. (AKI) - The threat by Turkish
officials to close down an organization defending
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people's
rights has been denounced by the US-based watchdog,
Human Rights Watch which called it a violation of
basic freedoms of association and expression.
Selahattin Ekremoglu, deputy governor of the Turkish
capital Ankara, on September 15 wrote a letter to
the gay and lesbian group Kaos GL that said a court
procedure had been opened to dissolve the
organization.
He claimed that the name and regulations of the
group violated a provision in the Turkish Civil Code
that forbids "establishing any organization that is
against the laws and principles of morality."
"Turkey has a long record of suppressing civil
society and harassing human rights defenders," said
Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual
and Transgender Rights Project at Human Rights
Watch. "This dangerous new move shows that old
habits die hard, and calls into question recent
advances in rights protections."
Kaos GL Gay and Lesbian Cultural Research and
Solidarity Organization is an 11-year-old,
Ankara-based group that operates a drop-in centre
providing social and cultural support to lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender people. The group also
advocates for measures to end discrimination and
violence, and it publishes a magazine that has been
registered as a legal publication since 1999.
On July 15, Kaos GL applied to the Turkish Interior
Ministry for recognition as a non-governmental
organization. The ministry initially approved the
request, but the Ankara deputy governor, who reports
to the Interior Ministry, has now responded by
launching a lawsuit to close the organization.
"Sweeping references to 'morality' in the Turkish
Civil Code still offer a pretext for discrimination
and abuse of basic rights," said Long. "Equal
protection doesn't include exclusion for sexual
orientation or gender identity."
Turkey has ratified the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, which protects freedoms
of expression and association and also forbids
discrimination on the basis of sex. In 1994 the UN
Human Rights Committee held that "sexual
orientation" was a status protected against
discrimination by the treaty.
Turkey has also ratified the European Convention on
Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which affirms
freedoms of expression and association. The European
Court of Human Rights has condemned discrimination
based on sexual orientation and gender identity in a
succession of cases.
In a briefing paper on Turkey's progress toward
admission to the European Union, Human Rights Watch
last year said that, "The government continues to
ease the restrictions on associations by small
degrees." However, the paper also noted, "for
organizations viewed with suspicion by the
authorities, including human rights organizations,
day-to-day life feels like life under a police
state: annual meetings and press conferences are
often monitored by plain clothes police officers
toting video cameras, while local prosecutors
maintain a hail of litigation."
Turkey is scheduled to begin membership talks with
the EU on 3 October.
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