Conservative paper attacked Turkish MPs who attended LGBTI conference

 

 

Turkish MPs Nursuna Memecan from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Binnaz Toprak from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) were in the Albanian capital on November 20-21 to participate in the conference titled “Fundamental Rights, Non-Discrimination and the Protection of Vulnerable Groups, Including LGBTI”.

 

 

Following Milli Gazete reporting on the event as “Parliament gives pass for immorality” three MPs, Mehmet Metiner and Ziver Ozdemir from the AKP and Ruhsar Demirel from the nationalist MHP, withdrew their participation.

 

Milli Gazete today reported on the conference full page with a title “Call to Morality”, calling Islamic groups to speak up against the LGBTI “disgrace”.

 

The paper wrote that the AKP MP “was boarded the same plane secretly” to attend the "conference of perversion" and that the CHP MP’s criticism on the paper’s coverage is a “medal of honor”.

 

 

Both MPs talked with Kaos GL Association’s lawyer Hayriye Kara, who also participated in the event, and commented on LGBTI rights.

 

Nursuna Memecan from the AKP said “LGBTI people should be acknowledged their rights and live in dignity”, celebrating the work of civil society in Turkey on LGBTI rights.

 

Binnaz Toprak from the CHP criticized the government for not complying with international conventions it signed off and added: “We should fight for everyone facing discrimination.”

Members of Turkish Parliament to participate in an international LGBTI conference