16/12/2024 | Writer: Yıldız Tar
According to ÜniKuir's report; while LGBTI+ organizations were not invited to commission meetings even once; 6 separate hate attacks were not included in the parliamentary agenda.
While almost every LGBTI+ event is banned, detentions and police violence during marches become routine, and hate attacks continue to hurt, what is the situation in the parliament?
ÜniKuir's report, which was announced with an online event, examines the 1st and 2nd legislative year of the 28th term of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey to find the answer to this very question.
Anti-LGBTI+ backlash increased during the budget talks of the Ministry of Family and Ministry of National Education and the Paris Olympics
Lawyer Mahmut Şeren, who also prepared the report, spoke at the launch of the report, which monitors how LGBTI+s were on the agenda of MPs in parliament between June 2023 and September 2024.
Stating that they aim to increase the interest of university students and young LGBTI+ people in politics, Attorney Şeren said, “There are many violations of rights that are reflected in the public debate but not on the parliamentary agenda. Especially during the budget negotiations of the Ministry of Family and the Ministry of National Education and during the Paris Olympics, we observed an increase in anti-LGBTI+ rhetoric from AKP and MHP.”
Stating that the parliamentary activities of the MPs are monitored but their work in the field is not included in this report, Av. Şeren said:
“Especially in terms of MPs who defend LGBTI+ rights, although some of them have weak parliamentary activities; it is possible to say that they defend LGBTI+ rights with other activities in the field. A similar situation is valid for AKP. In the AKP, the names targeting LGBTI+ rights have started to be ministers rather than MPs.”
41 MPs worked against LGBTI+ rights, 31 MPs worked for LGBTI+ rights
According to the report, none of the group deputy chairpersons of the 5 political parties with groups in the Parliament mentioned LGBTI+ rights even once in their speeches at the beginning of each plenary session.
A total of 41 MPs from AKP, MHP, Saadet Party, Yeniden Refah Party, HÜDA PAR and İYİ Party, 57 activities against LGBTI+ rights were reported. Of these 41 MPs, 19 were from AKP, 11 from MHP, 4 from Saadet Party, 3 from Yeniden Refah Party, 3 from HÜDA PAR and 1 from İYİ Party.
Within the scope of the research, a total of 31 MPs from DEM Party, CHP, TİP, EMEP, IYI Party and DEVA reported 120 activities in favor of LGBTI+ rights. Of these 31 MPs, 18 were from DEM Party, 7 from CHP, 2 from TİP, 2 from EMEP, 1 from İYİ Party and 1 from DEVA.
The report interprets this picture as follows:
“The role and duties of parliamentarians are to regulate the legislation in the necessary manner, to supervise the executive branch, to approve the budget, to propose and follow up solutions to the problems faced by society and individuals, and to form public opinion when necessary. In the legislative year under review, it is not possible to say that any of these roles and duties were fully fulfilled in terms of LGBTI+ rights.”
The MP with the highest number of parliamentary activities in favor of LGBTI+ rights was DEM Party Istanbul MP Özgül Saki with 20. Saki was followed by DEM Party Izmir MP Burcugül Çubuk with 11 and Sevilay Çelenk with 10. TİP Istanbul MP Sera Kadıgil, who does not have a group in the parliament, had 8 parliamentary activities defending LGBTI+ rights, while EMEP Antep MP Sevda Karaca had 7 activities.
People's Alliance, Yeniden Refah and Saadet together: “Global threat, deviant movements...”
According to the report, which emphasizes that the political parties that are members of the People's Alliance, the Yeniden Refah Party, which left the alliance, and the Saadet Party, which entered the 2023 elections under the umbrella of the Nation Alliance, are “in a systematic attitude towards criminalizing the existence and advocacy of LGBTI+s in society”, MPs from these political parties targeted LGBTI+s with concepts such as “deviant, harmful tendencies and movements, global threat, desexualization project”.
The report explains this situation as follows:
“MPs who make discriminatory and hateful statements against LGBTI+s frequently use concepts such as deviant, harmful tendencies/movements, global threat, de-sexification project. When we look at the word cloud created from the speeches of these MPs, it is seen that their statements on LGBTI+s are frequently accompanied by words such as “family structure, protection of the family, Israel, national, spiritual, Turkish, digital, social media”. In addition, LGBTI+ persons were frequently described as a threat or danger to children, youth and the family structure, calling on the government and state institutions to “fight” more.”
LGBTI+ organizations were not invited to commission meetings even once
On the other hand, the rights demands and problems of LGBTI+'s were sometimes included in the legislative and oversight activities in the parliament with only a few sentences, often with only one sentence or word.
According to the report, although it is legally possible, LGBTI+ organizations were not invited to the commission meetings where law proposals were discussed even once and their opinions were not consulted.
In the conclusion section of the report, this situation is evaluated as follows:
“There is no openly LGBTI+ MP in the parliament, which was reshaped as a result of the May 14, 2023 elections. In addition, LGBTI+ civil society organizations were not invited to the relevant commission meetings on issues that concern them and their opinions were not taken. It can be said that the right to political participation of LGBTI+ persons can be realized neither at the level of representation nor at the level of giving opinions.”
Those who did not make it to the parliamentary agenda: 6 separate hate attacks, suspicious deaths of two trans women, police interventions against the rainbow flag
In its report, ÜniKuir emphasized that although some MPs in the parliament talk about hate speech and hate crimes in general, hate crimes against LGBTI+ persons cannot be concretely put on the parliamentary agenda.
Among the violations that did not make it to the parliamentary agenda were 6 separate hate attacks against LGBTI+s in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, two incidents of suspicious deaths of trans women in Adana and Kocaeli, the impunity policy against violence and threatening discourse against Pride Week in Gaziantep, and the attacks against LGBTI+s during Newroz in Istanbul and Izmir.
Other topics that did not make it to the parliamentary agenda include RTÜK censorship, police obstacles to the rainbow flag, problems faced by LGBTI+ students in dormitories, and books declared obscene by the Ministry of Family.
MPs participating in pride march also targeted
The report also included pressure against MPs who defend LGBTI+ rights. According to the report, the Ministry of Interior's “unlawful actions incompatible with legislative immunity” against MPs participating in pride marches drew attention. During the period analyzed by the research, a criminal complaint was filed against DEM Party Istanbul MP Özgül Saki, while DEM Party Mersin MP Perihan Koca was attempted to be detained and beaten by the police.
Tags: human rights
