Turkish Police Arrest at Least 60 in Raids on LGBTQ Bars and Activists' Homes

Turkish police raided gay bars and the homes of LGBTQ activists on Sunday, arresting at least 60 people, according to officials and activists cited by France 24.

Authorities said the operation was intended to bolster "traditional family values," France 24 reported.

The raids come amid what activists describe as a sustained pattern of targeting Turkey's LGBTQ community by the government. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has previously described the LGBTQ movement as a "deviant movement" and referred to its members as "perverts," blaming them for the country's falling birth rate, according to France 24.

Yildiz Tar, Editor-in-Chief of KaosGL.org, an LGBTQ rights organization, told France 24's Monte Francis that "the very existence of LGBTQI people is seen as obscene" within the current political climate in Turkey.

France 24 did not provide further details on the identities of those arrested, the specific locations of the raids, or whether charges have been filed against those detained.