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NEARLY 400 people who were detained during a banned Pride march in the Turkish city of Istanbul were released today, organisers confirmed.
The Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity Association said that they had been freed “after a night in custody.”
Access to Istanbul’s Taksim Square was blocked on Saturday along with many side streets in the city’s Beyoglu district.
Police detained people in cafes they accused of waiting to participate in the prohibited demonstration.
Agency Press France photojournalist Bulent Kilic was beaten and arrested as security forces tried to clear the area.
A Pride demonstration in the coastal city of Izmir was also attacked by police, with organisers saying that eight people had been taken into custody.
Homosexuality is legal in Turkey, but the annual Pride demonstration has been banned in Istanbul since 2014.
Products with the rainbow colours or LGBT references must now be sold with an 18-plus rating “to protect children.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has branded the LGBT community deviants, with Pride marches and other events often banned on spurious safety grounds.
