Turkey’s far-right Islamist HÜDA-PAR party has presented a draft bill to the Turkish Parliament aimed at criminalizing homosexuality and same-sex relationships.
| Turkey: Far-right party presents draft bill aiming to criminalize same-sex relationships |
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| Turkey: Far-right party presents draft bill aiming to criminalize same-sex relationships |
The HÜDA-PAR is a Kurdish Islamist party known for supporting controversial positions such as the implementation of Sharia law in Turkey and for its alleged links to the Kurdish Hezbollah, a militant group unaffiliated with the better known Lebanese Hezbollah. Although the party has previously supported President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s presidential campaigns and candidates from Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the HÜDA-PAR remains outside of Turkey’s governing coalition, the People’s Alliance.
The draft bill in question was signed by HÜDA-PAR Chairman Zekeriya Yapıcıoğlu along with three other members of parliament.
Bill criminalizes same-sex relationships and the ‘concealing of biological gender’
The bill calls for 1-3 year prison sentences for those convicted of “marrying someone else by concealing their biological sex”.
Additionally, the bill seeks to criminalize same-sex relationships, according to an announcement on the HÜDA-PAR website, which states: “All types of sexual relations between individuals of the same sex, as well as the encouragement of these types of relationships,” will be recognized as a crime. The bill tasks Turkey’s media watchdog RTÜK with penalizing media platforms, such as advertisements and TV shows, that are deemed to promote ‘immodest behavior’.
The official justification for the new bill mentions threats to family unity, marriage, and moral and spiritual values through ‘deviant ideologies’ as reasons for the proposal.
Bill recognizes two genders
HÜDA-PAR’s draft bill recognizes two genders, male and female, and dictates that individuals may only marry those from the opposite sex:
“Humans are created as male and female and can only enter into a marriage union with someone of the opposite sex. Acts that advocate the opposite are contrary to human nature and existence, and family and social order. Acts that harm marriage and the family institution, such as gender neutralization or cancellation, should be prosecuted as crimes.”
LGBTI+ rights in Turkey
Although homosexuality is legal in Turkey, LGBTI+ individuals face challenges such as lack of recognition of same sex marriage, inability to serve openly in the military, and lack of discrimination protections.
Istanbul Pride, the country’s largest gay pride march, has been banned by authorities since 2015 on the grounds of ‘security concerns and maintenance of public order.’ Attempts in recent years to hold marches despite the ban have been met with blockades, tear gas, and mass arrests.
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Written/translated for Medyascope by Leo Kendrick
