TUR 001 / 1225 / OBS 080
Arbitrary dissolution /
Obstacle to freedom of association /
Judicial harassment
Turkey
19 December 2025
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your intervention in the following situation in Turkey.
Description of the situation:
The Observatory has been informed about the arbitrary dissolution of the Young LGBTI+ Association, as well as judicial harassment against the executives and employees of the organisation. The Young Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans Intersex Youth Studies and Solidarity Association (Young LGBTI+ Association - Genç LGBTİ+ Derneği) was established in Izmir in 2016, with the aim of researching the challenges faced by LGBTQIA+ youth, bringing them to public attention, offering solutions, and creating spaces for LGBTQIA+ persons to express themselves.
On 11 December 2025, the Izmir 3rd Civil Court of First Instance ruled to dissolve the Young LGBTI+ Association, on the basis of five social media posts shared by the association in 2019, 2020, and 2022. These social media posts were illustrations shared by the association on Lesbian Visibility Day in 2019 and 2022, and on the occasion of the 4th LGBTI+ Youth Festival in 2020. The court ruled that the posts containing “obscene” images were viewed by many people and reached a wide audience, that they could encourage and promote lesbian, gay, bisexual, transvestite, or trans-sexuality, and that the association was not in line with the moral values of society and Article 41 of the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey (Protection of the family, and children’s rights). The Young LGBTI+ Association will be appealing this decision.
The Observatory recalls that on 10 December 2024, the Izmir Governor’s Office reported the Young LGBTI+ Association to the Izmir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office due to the five illustrations shared by the association on social media, and requested that a criminal investigation be launched for obscenity and that a lawsuit be filed to dissolve the association. As a result, an investigation was launched on charges of “facilitating the publication of obscene material” (Article 226/2 of the Penal Code of Turkey) and “establishing an association for prohibited purposes or to commit criminal acts” (Articles 30(b) and 32(p) of the Associations Law), with reference to Article 41 of the Constitution concerning the protection of the family. On 3 February 2025, a dissolution case was filed against the association in the Izmir 3rd Civil Court of First Instance (case n° 2025/41 E.) on the grounds that it encouraged society to adopt LGBTI+ identities by sharing obscene content, and the trial opened on 11 March 2025.
In parallel with these civil proceedings, the Izmir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office Cybercrime Bureau launched a criminal investigation on 10 December 2024 against 11 individuals, including members of the Young LGBTI+ Association’s board of directors and supervisory board, and two employees, on the basis of the same five social media posts. A repetitive criminal investigation on the same social media posts was launched on 24 March 2025 by the Izmir Press Prosecutor’s Office. Although the Cybercrime Bureau eventually decided on 14 August 2025 not to prosecute the 11 individuals for obscenity, the Press Prosecutor’s Office proceeded to file a criminal case against these 11 individuals under the Associations Law. The first hearing in this case is scheduled for 8 April 2026.
As previously documented by the Observatory and its partner organisations in Turkey, the Human Rights Association (İnsan Hakları Derneği - İHD) and the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (Türkiye İnsan Hakları Vakfı - TİHV) in their report “‘Uncertain and Eerie’: Closure Cases Against Associations in Turkey”, closure cases against associations are increasingly being used by the authorities in Turkey to hinder the work of human rights defenders and civil society organisations, particularly that of women’s and LGBTQIA+ rights organisations and organisations working on the Kurdish issue. Among other forms of harassment, the drastic measure of involuntary dissolution of associations, which the cases can lead to, is increasingly abused by the authorities to silence, discredit and sanction associations in retaliation for their work.
Since 2021, at least six associations have faced closure cases in Turkey. Of these, only the dissolution case against the We Will Stop Femicide Platform (KCDP) was dismissed in 2023. The Religious Scholars Mutual Aid and Solidarity Association (DİAYDER) was dissolved in 2022 and the Migration Monitoring Association (GÖÇİZDER) was dissolved in 2024, whereas the dissolution case against the Tarlabaşı Community Centre (TTM) and the Mutual Aid, Solidarity, Unity and Culture Association with Families Who Lost Relatives in the Cradle of Civilizations (MEBYADER) are ongoing. The involuntary dissolution of the Young LGBTI+ Association represents yet another example of this worrisome trend.
The Observatory notes with concern that the dissolution of the Young LGBTI+ Association takes place against a backdrop of increasing attacks against LGBTQIA+ people and rights defenders in Turkey. In October 2025, a government draft law was leaked to the press revealing plans to criminalise “attitudes and behaviours contrary to biological sex from birth and general morality” as well as those deemed to “openly encourage, praise, or promote such attitudes and behaviours”. The proposal also sought to restrict gender-affirming care by raising the minimum age to 25 and introducing burdensome requirements. These provisions were not included in the bill that was recently submitted to Parliament, following criticism from a wide range of domestic and international actors that the initial proposal was a clear violation of the rights of LGBTQIA+ people. However, the involuntary dissolution of the Young LGBTI+ Association on grounds that it “encourages” being LGBTQIA+ raises an alarm regarding possible future attempts to criminalise LGBTQIA+ persons and content. That the association was shut down on grounds of obscenity by the civil court despite the prosecution’s decision not to prosecute association executives for obscenity further demonstrates that existing laws are weaponised against LGBTQIA+ defenders in line with the spirit and aims of the draft law. That both the dissolution and the criminal case rely on five illustrations shared on social media also point to undue restrictions of artistic freedom protected under the right to freedom of expression.
The Observatory strongly condemns the arbitrary dissolution of the Young LGBTI+ Association and the criminal proceedings against its members, which appear to be aimed solely at preventing and criminalising the organisation and its employees from exercising their legitimate human rights work. The dissolution violates the right to freedom of association, recognised by international human rights law, particularly under Article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and under Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), to which Turkey is a party. Under these provisions, the dissolution of an association should be considered as a last resort, applied only in exceptional cases where lesser sanctions fail and when there is evidence of an imminent, severe and proven threat to public order. Even then, dissolution is permissible only when it is lawful, strictly necessary, proportionate and when it pursues a legitimate aim. It cannot be used to suppress dissent or target individuals or organisations who are critical of or promote views contrary to the ones supported by the government.
The Observatory urges the authorities in Turkey to immediately quash the dissolution of the Young LGBTI+ Association, to drop all criminal charges against the 11 association’s members, and to guarantee, in all circumstances, the rights to freedom of association and expression.
Actions requested:
Please write to the authorities of Turkey asking them to:
– Immediately quash the dissolution of the Young LGBTI+ Association, and put an end to any act of harassment, including at the administrative and judicial level, against it and all other human rights organisations in the country;
– Immediately and unconditionally drop all charges against the Young LGBTI+ Association members, and put an end to any act of harassment, including at the judicial level, against them and all other human rights defenders in the country, and ensure that they are able to carry out their legitimate activities without any hindrance or fear of reprisals;
– Guarantee in all circumstances the rights to freedom of expression and association, as recognised in international human rights standards, and in particular in Articles 19 and 22 of the ICCPR, and in Articles 10 and 11 of the ECHR.
Addresses:
• President of the Republic of Turkey, Mr Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Email: contact@tccb.gov.tr, Twitter : @RTErdogan
• Minister of Justice, Mr Yılmaz Tunç, Emails: info@adalet.gov.tr / basin@adalet.gov.tr, Twitter : @adalet_bakanlik
• Minister of Interior, Mr Ali Yerlikaya, Emails: diab@icisleri.gov.tr / sti@icisleri.gov.tr, Twitter : @TC_icisleri
• Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Hakan Fidan, Twitter: @MFATurkiye
• Board Member and Chairman of the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkey, Prof. Dr. Fahrettin Altun, Email: baskanlik@tihek.gov.tr, Twitter: @fahrettinaltun / @tihek_kurumsal
• Ambassador Mr Faruk Kaymakçı, Diplomatic Mission of Turkey to the European Union in Brussels, Belgium, Email: info@turkdeleg.org / tr-delegation.eu@mfa.gov.tr
• Ambassador Mr Burak Akçapar, Permanent Mission of Turkey to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Email: turkey.unog@mfa.gov.tr
Please also write to the diplomatic missions or embassies of Turkey in your respective country.
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Paris-Geneva, 19 December 2025
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of this programme is to intervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
• E-mail: alert@observatoryfordefenders.org
• Tel FIDH: + 33 (1) 43 55 25 18
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