{"id":5365,"date":"2017-06-27T10:36:53","date_gmt":"2017-06-27T17:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=5365"},"modified":"2017-06-27T10:38:36","modified_gmt":"2017-06-27T17:38:36","slug":"turkish-police-clash-gay-pride-activists-istanbul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2017\/06\/27\/turkish-police-clash-gay-pride-activists-istanbul\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkish police clash with Gay Pride activists in Istanbul"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"hd\">\n<div class=\"article-action\"><\/div>\n<figure class=\"img\">\n<div id=\"zcT69GwaCiU\" class=\"youtube-container bsplayer-type-video bsplayer-processed\" data-ytplayer-id=\"zcT69GwaCiU\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"zcT69GwaCiU_iframe\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zcT69GwaCiU?hl=en-US&amp;showinfo=0&amp;color=white&amp;rel=0&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.france24.com\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div class=\"yt-subscribe-bar\">\n<div class=\"yt-subscribe-button\">\u00a9 BULENT KILIC \/ AFP | Turkish riot police officers block an access to Istiklal avenue to prevent LGBT rights activists from going ahead with a Gay Pride annual parade on June 25, 2017 in Istanbul<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"author\">Video by <a class=\"modeless\" title=\"FRANCE 24\" href=\"http:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/author\/france-24\/\">FRANCE 24<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"author\">Text by <a class=\"modeless\" title=\"NEWS WIRES\" href=\"http:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/author\/news-wires\/\">NEWS WIRES<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"modification\">Latest update : 2017-06-26<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"bd\">\n<h2>Turkish police on Sunday thwarted an attempt by Gay Pride activists to hold a parade in the country&#8217;s largest city Istanbul in defiance of an official ban from the local authorities.<\/h2>\n<p>Police fired rubber bullets at a group of around 40 activists, an AFP journalist reported, a day after the city governor&#8217;s office banned the march citing safety and public order concerns.<\/p>\n<p>Small groups gathered at Taksim Square but witnesses said a heavy police presence outnumbered the activists, and at least four people were detained.<\/p>\n<p>It is the third year in a row that the march has been banned, and organisers denounced the move.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are not scared, we are here, we will not change,&#8221; the Pride Committee said in a statement on Sunday. &#8220;You are scared, you will change and you will get used to it.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are here again to show that we will fight in a determined fashion for our pride.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8216;Governors change, we stay&#8217;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In one of the biggest LGBT events in the mainly Muslim region, the 2014 Gay Pride parade in Istanbul drew tens of thousands of people.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, with the city on the edge after bombings blamed on the Islamic State group and Kurdish militants, organisers were denied permission to march.<\/p>\n<p>Riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters who defied the ban.<\/p>\n<p>Eleven activists went on trial in Istanbul this week for defying last year&#8217;s ban on the Gay Pride march, but they were all acquitted.<\/p>\n<p>This year, the parade coincided with the first day of Eid, the festival marking the end of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.<\/p>\n<p>City authorities banned the parade after threats from far-right and conservative groups.<\/p>\n<p>Critics accuse President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of having overseen a creeping Islamisation since he came to power, first as prime minister in 2003 and then president in 2014.<\/p>\n<p>He has repeatedly infuriated activists with his conservative comments on sex and family planning, but has generally steered clear of commenting publicly on gay issues.<\/p>\n<p>But in 2010, former family minister Aliye Kavaf, a woman, described homosexuality as a &#8220;biological disorder&#8221; and a &#8220;disease&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Homosexuality has been legal in Turkey throughout the period of the modern republic but gay people in Turkey regularly complain of harassment and abuse.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are not alone, we are not wrong, we have not given up,&#8221; the Pride Committee&#8217;s statement said Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Governors, governments, states change and we stay. Threats, bans, pressures will not deter us &#8230; We will not give up on,&#8221; it added.<\/p>\n<p>(<em>AFP<\/em>)<\/p>\n<p class=\"modification\">Date created : 2017-06-25<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a9 BULENT KILIC \/ AFP | Turkish riot police officers block an access to Istiklal avenue to prevent LGBT rights activists from going ahead with a Gay Pride annual parade on June 25, 2017 in Istanbul Video by FRANCE 24 Text by NEWS WIRES Latest update : 2017-06-26 Turkish police&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2017\/06\/27\/turkish-police-clash-gay-pride-activists-istanbul\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5365"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5365"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5367,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5365\/revisions\/5367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}