07/05/2025 | Writer: Oğulcan Özgenç
In a letter sent to ministry units, the General Directorate of Family and Community Services stated; “Oppose the concepts of gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation in international meetings,” openly targeting LGBTI+ individuals.
The General Directorate of Family and Community Services, under the Ministry of Family and Social Services, sent a letter titled “Regarding the Use of Gender and Certain Concepts” to the ministry’s general directorates and the provincial directorates of all 81 cities, targeting LGBTI+ individuals.
In the letter, the Directorate argued that ministry units, in their work with national and international institutions, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders, should adopt a unified stance against concepts such as “gender,” “gender identity,” “LGBT,” “SOGIESC (sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, and sex characteristics),” and “comprehensive sexuality education.”
The letter, signed by Tuncay Cevheroğlu, Director General of Family and Community Services, asserted that Turkey’s opposition to these concepts should be reflected in international documents and meetings. It also claimed that such concepts are harmful to the family. The Directorate stated that terms such as “gender,” “gender identity,” and “sexual orientation” should be avoided.
The Directorate openly targeted LGBTI+ individuals: “Meanings beyond biological sex…”
Alongside this, the letter referred to the family as the “natural and fundamental unit of society” and reminded that 2025 has been declared the “Year of the Family.” The Directorate claimed that concepts such as “gender,” “gender identity,” and “sexual orientation,” which are used in international meetings and documents, undermine the institution of marriage and family, and harm women, children, and the structure of society.
By using the term “biological sex,” the Directorate openly targeted LGBTI+ individuals and claimed that the family is under threat:
“In this context, a significant issue that threatens the institution of marriage and family, women, children, and society as a whole is the questioning of gender as a category. In recent years, the term gender, or gender identity, has increasingly replaced the word sex, which refers to women and men. It is observed that this concept is being used at the international level in ways that include agendas which could negatively impact social life by attributing meanings beyond biological sex. These concepts are being employed by those who claim that gender is a “social construct,” can be determined by individual declaration, and that variable gender identities beyond the binary exist, thus devaluing or ignoring the biological characteristics and needs specific to the two sexes.”
Tags: human rights, life, family
