SOGI

President Erdoğan Sues Pişkin for Damages Worth 50 Thousand TL

Source: Yıldız Tar, “Erdoğan’dan Pişkin’e 50 bin liralık tazminat davası!” (“Erdoğan Sues Pişkin for Damages Worth 50 Thousand TL”) KaosGL.org, 29 August 2014, http://kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=17425

President Erdoğan files a new lawsuit against Levent Pişkin, an LGBTI activist, for a tweet Pişkin had made and demands 50,000 TL (23,155 USD) in damages.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has filed a new lawsuit against LGBTI activist Levent Pişkin for a tweet he had made and demanded damages worth 50,000 TL (23,155 USD). This is the second time Erdoğan has filed a suit against an LGBTI activist over a tweet.

The verdict of the last case, in which Pişkin was sentenced to pay 1,500 TL (695 USD) in damages was cited as evidence.

Press Releases made in support of Pişkin also targeted

The new case also targeted press statements made in support for Levent Pişkin. In the filing, Erdoğan’s lawyers wrote, “The whole incident was deliberately misrepresented. The defendant continues to cross the line and grossly insult the acting Prime Minister.”

In the notification document sent to Pişkin, Erdoğan’s lawyers argued that “Erdoğan’s honor, dignity and reputation were damaged,” with the damage estimated at 50,000 TL.

“A fag* myself, I would never use the word ‘fag’ as an insult”

Pişkin, in his previous comments to KaosGL.org, had stressed that  ‘fag’ is a word that has been reclaimed by LGBTI people. LGBTI solidarity organizations had responded to the case by saying “The case against the use of the word ’fag’ has been filed against all of us. Homosexuality/Faggotry is not an insult, but a sexual orientation.”

What prompted the case?

Levent Pişkin had tweeted, “The next declaration I am expecting from Erdoğan is, ‘I am a perfect fag. Obviously I will not learn how to be a fag from you.’ Kisses #LGBTIintheConstitution.*” Prime Minister Erdoğan had then attacked Pişkin through the media. Levent Pişkin had, in turn, filed a criminal complaint against the Prime Minister for insulting his sexual orientation.

Presiding judge removed from the case

While Pişkin’s complaint was not processed, Erdoğan’s action had resulted in the sentencing of Pişkin for libel (125/2) to two months and fifteen days of incarceration, later converted to a 1,500 TL fine.

The first judge appointed for the case had told Pişkin at the first hearing, “Do not be afraid, we are the judges of the December 17th case.** Feel free to tell the truth.” The second hearing, originally scheduled for March 25, was postponed, the original judge removed from the case, and a new judge appointed.

*#AnayasadaLGBTI

**Referring to the corruption allegations raised against Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, then the Prime Minister of Turkey, and circles close to him on and after 17 December 2013. 

Translators Note:

*The Turkish term ibne is originally derived from the Arabic word “boy” and is widely used today as a derogatory slang for gay men. The Turkish Language Institute Dictionary defines ibne as “a passive homosexual man” and “a word said in anger.” The term is being reclaimed by many in the LGBTI movement in Turkey. In this sense, ibne’s current connotations lie somewhere between the American English terms “fag” and “queer.” In this translation “fag” is used to stand for ibne, and “faggotry” for ibnelik, the state of being an ibne.

Mehmet Atif Ergun on Figen’s Death: Speaking of Suicide

Source: Mehmet Atif Ergun, “İntiharı konuşmaya dair (Speaking of suicide)”. Lambdaistanbul, August 26, 2014, http://www.lambdaistanbul.org/s/yasam/intihari-konusmaya-dair-mehmet-atif-ergun/

To offer suicide as if it were murder is to disperse and disarm counter-hegemonic discourses inside the one that is infused in violence.

I learned of Figen’s ordeal with police torture through that photograph, where she dared to expose her vulnerability over an Ataturk bust and the arm of a police officer; I learned of her ending her own life through a short yet searing sentence on Twitter. And I have come across an article by Halil Kandok, published both in Kaos GL and in Radikal while jointly translating a news article on her suicide with LGBTI News Turkey. In the article, Kandok asks:

Figen did not commit suicide out of nowhere. She committed suicide because of society’s normative pressures and because the state failed to protect her. That is, she was pushed to suicide, to death. Is this a suicide, or a murder committed by a secret weapon, the weapon of hatred?

What is suicide?  Who commits suicide?  For a nation where life and death are left to chance and violence is part of everyday life, answering these questions may be of significance. From what has been written on Figen’s deed, Figen did not end her life but was murdered. She was helpless and deedless, she was silenced, her existence erased. She was purged from society. Her very last moment was imbued with that “animal fear,” as the poet [Nazım Hikmet, 1961, “Straw-Blond”] says, that was created in her by her murderer, and not of her own thoughts, anxieties, her own self.

Yet, was it not those very soldiers, the ones who “had shoulder helmets on their shoulders but no heads / between their shoulders and their helmets nothing / they even had collars and necks but no heads” nor eyes, the ones “whose deaths are not mourned”, in whom “you could see their fear, animal fear”?  The ones with “arms, swastikas on their arms” –did we not already encounter them in Figen’s photograph?

Suicide is a deed realized by the person doing the deed, a sorts of a last-disobedience. It is an existential show of power: it is the expression of the argument that “my life is mine to take and no one else’s,” that is, of the claim to one’s right to live, through a radical deed. It is one of those moments where one takes away any power that the assailant might have had and where the assailant is left impotent. When we attribute this deed to the person whose aim it was, in the first place, to erase this other, to expunge her very existence from society, are we not participating in the fantasy mounted by that person by way of our framing of the debate and of the tongue?

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Stabbed 28 times upon offering same-sex intercourse

Source: “Eşcinsel ilişki teklif eden arkadaşını 28 yerinden bıçakladı”, (“Stabbed his friend 28 times upon being offered same-sex intercourse”), Milliyet, 20 August 2014, http://www.milliyet.com.tr/escinsel-iliski-teklif-eden-gundem-1928483/

A man living in the Gebze district of Kocaeli stabbed his friend 28 times when the [male] friend offered to have sexual relations with him.

Sources indicate that while S.Ç. (35) was sitting on his balcony, he saw his friend E.Y. walking down the street and invited him up to his house. Allegedly, the two friends were drinking and S.Ç. offered to have sex with E.Y. Upset by this, E.Y went to the kitchen and called his friend in. Then he grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed his friend 28 times.

The police arrived and began investigating. They were able to catch E.Y. at the textile workshop where he worked. E.Y. admitted to having committed the murder during his initial testimony at the police station and he was referred to court.

People of Ağrı React to Posters of Transvestite Woman

Source: İlke News Agency, “Ağrılılardan travesti afişlerine tepki” (“People of Ağrı React to Posters of Transvestite Woman”), İLKHA, 07 August 2014, http://www.ilkehaberajansi.com.tr/haber/agrililardan-travesti-afislerine-tepki.html

Billboard advertisements in Ağrı for Asya Elmas, presented in recent local elections as the People’s Democratic Party (HDP)’s Kadıköy Municipal Council candidate to promote the HDP’s Presidential campaign propaganda, have drawn public reaction.

Asya Elmas

People in Ağrı have reacted harshly to a poster picturing transvestite Asya Elmas, displayed on a billboard on Kağızman Avenue in support of HDP Presidential candidate Selahattin Demirtaş.  Asya Elmas was presented in the local elections by the HDP as a candidate for the Municipal Council in Istanbul’s Kadıköy district.

Ağrı citizen S.S., reacting to the display of the poster, stated that this situation was nothing other than accustoming people to immorality. “By what right does the HDP, in spite of her videos, which appear on video sharing websites, YouTube chief among them, and in spite of the information about her, display this person’s picture on Ağrı’s busiest avenue?  The HDP must put an end to this immorality immediately.”

Ağrı citizen Süleyman K., who says that he is a stalwart defender of the HDP, emphasized that an effort was being made to corrupt the people of Ağrı, saying that this poster was displayed deliberately. He responded, “I thought that the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and the HDP, to whom I have been devoted and for whom I have advocated, were defending our rights and keeping alive our customs and traditions. People who we knew to be conscious, educated, and informed would tell us the true aims of these people, but we would react, saying, ‘You have ulterior motives.’ Now I realize that the HDP, the BDP, with its changing name, and their affiliates are moving towards this goal. This disgraceful poster must be removed at once, or else they are going to lose me and people like me.”

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HDP’s Pervin Buldan Submits Parliamentary Question to Ministry of Justice on LGBT Rights

Source: Attached.

Grand National Assembly of Turkey

Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP)

Group Presidency

No: 482

Date: 10.07.2014

TO THE PRESIDENCY OF THE GRAND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF TURKEY

I respectfully request the Ministry of Justice Bekir BOZDAĞ to respond to the questions below in writing in accordance with the 98th bylaw of the Constitution and the 96th bylaw of the Standing Orders.

Pervin BULDAN

HDP Group Deputy Chairman

Member of Parliament for Iğdır

 

On 2 July 2014, 17-year-old successful sports player and trans man dubbed ‘Efe Özyavuz’ by the public and the media, and who named himself Okyanus, ended his life.

As the words Okyanus shared on his social media account about his suicide clearly demonstrate: suicide is a valid concept that is experienced by all individuals who have different sexual orientations and who are the focus of hate speech due to their preferred sexual orientations.

LBGT individuals live out their lives in the clamp of violence created by the state and society’s pressure. In fact, hate speech and the violence created by these discourses and pressure is ignored and violence is seen as suitable for LBGT individuals. Every mechanism from laws to social norms clearly and openly seize LBGT individuals “right to life” as seen in this event.

In this way,

  1. Has your ministry led any efforts on the event of this death and its causes? If not, what is the reason?

  2. Do you think that the violence LBGT people are exposed to and its results are caused by the penal laws and the negative attitudes of police and legal mechanisms? Do you think the results that are caused by the laws and its practitioners constitute “violations of the right to life”?

  3. Are legal efforts regarding hate crimes on your agenda? If so, what is the scope?

  4. Are you considering any arrangements on hate crimes committed against LBGT individuals who are the focus of hate speech and who are not protected by any laws?

  5. What are the rates of LBGT individuals, who are increasingly the focus of hate speech and violence, applying to judicial mechanisms?

  6. What is the number of people who have been tried and punished for attacking LBGT individuals?

  7. What is the reason behind the fact that there are no effective trials in events of violence against LBGT individuals?

HDP Question to Ministry of Justice

Homosexual AKP supporters displayed a flag in front of Erdoğan

Source: “AKP’li eşcinseller Erdoğan’ın önünde bayrak açtı”, (“Homosexual AKP supporters displayed a flag in front of Erdoğan”) Radikal, 4 August 2014, http://www.radikal.com.tr/politika/akpli_escinseller_bayrak_acti-1204925/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=trafik

The group named “The LGBTI of the AK Party” attended Erdoğan’s Maltepe rally. The group displayed a rainbow flag at the rally site and in front of the podium.

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The AK Party’s LGBT partisans attended presidential candidate and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s rally for the first time yesterday in Maltepe and they displayed a flag. The group shared photos from the rally on their AK LGBTI Twitter account with the note, “HOMOSEXUALS STAND BESIDE TAYYİP ERDOĞAN. WE ARE AT RALLIES. GET USED TO IT, WE ARE EVERYWHERE.” One user tweeted the following, “I waved the rainbow flag at the very front. Our Prime Minister probably saw it too.” The photographs received supportive comments but there was a hostile message too, which read, “My brothers in the AK Party, put your foot down against this ridicule.”

Before the rally, representatives from the group spoke to Milliyet’s Damla Yur and explained that they had support from the party administration.

The news story entitled “There are active AK Party members in our group” reads as follows:

The first time we saw the rainbow flag next to AK Party members was during the opening ceremony of the Istanbul-Ankara High Speed Railway where Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was also in attendance. The former Minister of State Responsible for Women and Family Affairs, AK Party deputy Selma Aliye Kavaf had declared once that “[she thought] homosexuality was a disease that needed to be cured.”

The AK Party’s Afyon Deputy Halil Ürün had asked, “What is LGBT? I have no idea. How should I know about it? We are ignorant about these issues.” The goal of the AK Party’s LGBTI members is to change the negative perceptions of right wing and conservative sectors against LGBTI people. The group entitled “The LGBTI of the AK Party,” founded on 30 March, already has 937 followers on social media. Three hundred of these followers are assumed to be AK Party members but only 11 people attended the initial meeting.

Some Active Party Members

One of the founders of the group, Kerem, shared the group’s goals with Milliyet. Kerem explains that they aim to make sure that the heterosexual sectors understand how there are LGBTI individuals who vote for the AK Party. It is for this reason that they decided to get together and become visible. Kerem has previously worked in AK Party organizations and states that they are able to reach people through social media. Kerem says that there are several AK Party members who came out with their sexual orientations:

“There are some very active party members in our group. An AK Party affiliated mayor sent us a congratulatory message when we first founded our group. We are not only in touch with AK Party. We have also received support from the LISTAG (Families of LGBTs in Istanbul) Family Group, Hevi LGBT, the Istanbul LGBTT Solidarity Association and other LGBTI groups.

“I have been hurt”

“As a homosexual person who votes for the AK Party, I have at times been very hurt and saddened by the declarations of the AK Party deputies. Our goal is to change the perceptions of right leaning and conservative sectors that have similar thoughts. Every political party may include people who think negatively of LGBTI individuals and there are LGBTI-phobic people among conservatives too. But this does not mean that all hate crimes are committed by conservatives. It would not be right to associate the hate crimes with a single party.”

 

 

LGBTI comment from İhsanoğlu: Society has Sensitivities!

Source: “İhsanoğlu’ndan LGBTİ yorumu: Toplumun hassasiyetleri var!” (“LGBTI comment from İhsanoğlu: Society has Sensitivities!”) kaosGL.org, 28 July 2014, http://kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=17195

Presidential Candidate Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu said, “Our society is a conservative one. Society has sensitivities” regarding LGBTI rights.

Presidential Candidate Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu spoke with Turkish daily newspaper Hürriyet’s Cansu Çamlıbel and avoided answering questions regarding homophobia and LGBTI rights. İhsanoğlu talked about “society’s sensitivities” and said “Our society is a conservative one. We have to think about the sensitivities of a conservative society.”

İhsanoğlu has no projects, promises or statements on LGBTI people killed because of “the sensitivities of a conservative society” or hate crimes.

İhsanoğlu had previously argued that homophobia is not a universal issue and had stayed away from approaches that include LGBTI rights within universal human rights. The relevant parts of the interview are below:

Your statement in an interview with Al Jazeera where you said “Homophobia is not a universal issue” remain in the archives. What is your position on LGBTI people’s rights and place in society?

Of course this is a very sensitive issue. On the one hand there is the human rights aspect on the inclusion of these people in society and on the other hand there are society’s sensitivities. We must think about this within these two parameters.

How do we find that balance? What is the formula to get over society’s homophobia?

What is homophobia?

We can say that it is a concept that summarizes extreme attitudes of denial and exclusion of LGBTI people.

We should consider these sensitivities. It would not be correct to approach one side heavily. And there is this: our society is a conservative one. We have to think about the sensitivities of a conservative society. We have to be respectful of the values of 76 million people in Turkey. There are people who behave like this and who defend their rights.

So you see the free expression of sexual orientation as a right, correct?

There is a majority that is against this as well. It is not possible for me to answer this when I am trying to make it to the airport.

An Ugly March…

Source: Dursun Ali Bulut, “Çirkin Yürüyüş” (“An Ugly March…”), Milli Gazete, 29 June 2014, http://m.milligazete.com.tr/haber/Cirkin_Yuruyus/325704

The kinds of sexual perversion that stand opposed to human nature and are strictly banned by God as well as the efforts to legitimize these perversions are becoming more daring by the day.

Gays who have been able to form associations for years now and who receive support from various circles, especially the European Union, roamed the streets during Ramadan. The 22nd LGBTI march to be organized on the second day of Sacred Ramadan aims to throw the biggest party in Istanbul with 100 thousand participants. Members of the organizing committee say that they have been working like crazy and are moving forward very fast adding the following: “This year, our goal is to include the entire city. We have been organizing the march in Istanbul for 12 years. Twelve years ago, we only had fifty people walking or delivering the press declaration. Now, we are organizing a march that is to be attended by over 100 thousand people. We are a huge family and we cannot be stopped!

They want to enter each home

LGBTI member Görkem Ulumeriç says, “We want to enter each home and communicate with everyone and we have a lot more left to do.” Another LGBTI organization committee member Şevval Kılıç says, “We have been working like crazy. We were able to achieve our current day success by communicating with everyone around us: With Kurds, feminists, socialist, anti-militarists, and environmentalists… We wish to highlight this. When there were 20 or 30 thousand of us marching, we thought ‘Wow, it is so nice that there are so many of us this year.’ Then we saw last year that the march included 60 or 70 thousand people. There were too many of us for Istiklal Avenue to hold. And this year, we expect 100 thousand people.”

“Twelve years ago we were 50, now we are 100 thousand people”

Ulumeriç claims that the disgrace they put forth is the greatest activity in Istanbul. He adds, “They start preparing days in advance; they pick out their costumes. They share photos on social media websites and they tweet. This year, we are preparing for 100 thousand people. Istanbul is a huge city; our aim is to organize this march with a million people. This should be a festivity, like any other. You know like, when you think about what you will wear for some occasion and anticipate it with excitement, like the new years’, and when you know you will have a great time and see your friends and your loved ones…”

They spread all over the country like cancer

This disgrace that has spread all over the country like cancer continues to expand each day. LGBTI individuals state that they are active in many parts of Anatolia: “Many LGBTI persons have the courage to organize. Take for instance, Hewi LGBT, which is the Kurdish LGBTI initiative. There is an organization now in Malatya and one in Trabzon called the Purple Fish. Dersim LGBTI is newly founded; the Mersin organization became an association and the Hebun formation in Diyarbakır also became an association. There is the Kars LGBTI organization. And last year Pride Parades were organized in Izmir and in Antalya. This year, there will be one in Malatya too. Finally, the panel on local Anatolian LGBTI organizations will take place on 27 June.”

 

Okyanus Özyavuz’s Girlfriend: “I can’t even go the funeral of the person I love”

Source: İpek, “Sevdiğim insanın cezanesine bile gidemiyorum,” (“I can’t even go the funeral of the person I love,”) kaosGL.org, 3 July 2014, http://kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=17014

My name is Ipek. I was Mukaddes’ girlfriend for the last 8 months. I was his first girlfriend. You can see that he was a trans person. At the time, when we first met, he told me ‘I want to be a boy,’ which didn’t surprise me, since there was already no difference, I found this quite normal.

On that day while looking for a name for him, we came over the name ‘Okyanus.’ I told him, that this name would suit him. After this day I always called him Okyanus. You can not even imagine what a good and kind person he was. His dreams were as interesting as the rainbow, he was as eager as the sky. Today I wanted to go to the funeral with a rainbow flag but at midnight my family got a threatening phone call that said ‘tonight blood will be spilled’. My mum came instantly to Izmir to pick me up. Just four hours ago, I was testifying in the police station.

Anyway, the day he hanged himself, I met Okyanus in the morning. There was a red bruise on the top left side of his head, on his left hand on the side of the thumb there were 3 cuts. ‘Are you going to explain these to me?’ I said. ‘I will explain,’ he said. ‘Yesterday, after they picked me up with the car from your place, my dad, my mum, my sibling gave me a hard time, they were really pushing me. Do you know what my dad said to me? ‘Hang yourself, so we can finally get over it,’ he said. They pressured me so much, that I don’t even know how I’m still here,’ he started to explain. After ‘If something happens to me, they won’t be able to look Mira in the eye, right?’ (Mira: His only dream was a daughter named Mira who had eyes as beautiful as his own and I’m sure he loved the dream about Mira even more than me.) Later he asked ‘If I will go, will you come with me?’ ‘I can’t come,’ I said. After this we spoke for maximum 10 minutes more. ‘I will go home,’ he said. ‘Okay,’ I said. He didn’t even properly hug me. ‘Without properly hugging me, you can’t go,’ I said. I hugged him, he hugged me the same way as before. I kissed him. He left… You finally have to realize that the pressure, that lies on LGBT-people, leads them to commit suicide. When he died, he had two pieces of paper in his pocket on which I wrote the contents of the slides I was going to prepare for him. This morning he said ‘They took the phone but I won’t give these to them even if they killed me.’ What a pain, I cannot even go to the funeral of the person I loved.

 

To the Press and the Public: On the Suicide of Okyanus Özyavuz

Source: T-Kulüp, “Basına ve Kamuyonu: Okyanus Özyavuz,” (“To the Press and the Public: On Okyanus Özyavuz,”) 3 July 2014

We will be in front of Galatasaray High School today (July 3, 2014) at 19:00 to speak out for our trans male friend, Okyanus Özyavuz, who committed suicide in İzmir.

If you are not there, we will be missing so many.

Note: Through our correspondence with our trans male comrade’s girlfriend, we understand that his chosen name was not Efe but Okyanus and that he had created a different facebook account with the name Efe. He preferred to be called Okyanus and we have respected his wish in our statement.

We love you Okyanus!

“To the attention of the Press and Public,

On July 2, 2014, Okyanus Özyavuz, a trans male individual, ended his life. A successful athlete, Okyanus pointed out the reason behind his suicide via a note he shared on his social media account, ‘What’s the fucking use of being normal?”

As hundreds of trans individuals who understand what Okyanus was going through by his one remark, we would like to explain why he died: Close your eyes and imagine…. That you wake up in the morning in a body which you feel is not compatible with your sex, that you cannot tear it up the way you can a disappointing dress and that you are drowned in that flesh as well as the looks, remarks and the harassment of those that see you in that flesh.

Imagine nobody being able to see or understand who you really are… Imagine everyone you know pushing you and being hostile to you because that body is not compatible with you, and imagine being more drawn into yourself day by day. You can’t take it? Why not change? Make a choice between lying to yourself forever and taking on the whole world. Change, despite the possibility of being labeled ‘abnormal’ but to be yourself… Then imagine putting up with not being identified as ‘normal’ ever again.

Even if you do understand a part of what we are saying, we are sure that you will spread the news with a different name than that our friend chose and we insist on calling him ‘Okyanus.’ We pay more heed to his preferred male identity, expressed by his chosen name and his attire, than the female identity the government brands on us by only glancing at our crotches. And we accuse you! You killed Okyanus. You journalists, mothers, fathers, teachers, brothers, sisters or lovers! You, who do not know how to love unconditionally, kill a part of us every day with the constant repetition of the ‘normal – abnormal’ dichotomy.

We, trans individuals, live everyday and every moment struggling against you. You try to suppress us through pressures by society, family and government so that you can protect that wholly fictional, damned “normal.” Well, we are not suppressed! We will not apologize for existing! You disregard us and discriminate us by regulating everything from bathrooms to vocational schools according to your own “normal.” Still, we keep going and when we object to how we are treated and cry out for our human rights, you test us with every kind of violence, death and/or suicide and try to wipe us out. Well, we will not be wiped out!

Failing to add any clauses to the new Hate Crimes Law regarding the LGBTI means the government ignores us even under the threat of violence and that trans individuals’ right to life is not guaranteed in this country. The state’s insistence on being an accomplice in every event of discrimination through its police, teachers, doctors and law, its constant violation of our rights such as the rights to shelter, education and employment are just a few of the reasons providing a base for these suicides and murders. We announce here: The state is the perpetrator, the society is the perpetrator and the “normal” is the perpetrator!

You killed yet another pure and clean part of us, but we are still here! Our heads held high! We stand strong against you organized and in solidarity! Neither your ignorance, nor your violence, not even your slayings will be able to change this. You will see us wherever you turn your head. Get used to it, we are here and we are not going anywhere.”

T-Kulüp (Trans Male Culture Production Platform)

Voltrans

Having suicidal thoughts? Please, please stop long enough to read this. It will only take about five minutes: http://www.metanoia.org/suicide/

To the best of our knowledge, the online and IRL resources below will provide you with a safe and non-judgmental space.

IRC / Chatlines

Hotlines

Sexual Assault Resources

If you know of any other suicide resources where you live or work, please do let us know so that we can add them to our website. To contact us, email us at info@lgbtinewsturkey.com, or see http://lgbtinewsturkey.com/about/.

http://lgbtinewsturkey.com/2015/03/04/suicide-resources/

 

17-year-old Trans Teen Commits Suicide in Turkey

Source: Kaos GL, “17-year-old trans teen commits suicide in Turkey,” kaosGL.org, 3 July 2014, http://kaosgl.org/page.php?id=17012

A 17-year-old trans teen named Okyanus Efe Özyavuz committed suicide in the western city of Izmir yesterday. Having won kick box championships both in Izmir and in the region, Özyavuz shared a note on his Facebook account which reads “What’s the fucking use of being normal?”
Noticing that Özyavuz hung himself from his apartment balcony, the neighbors broke in and cut the rope.
An autopsy will take place in Izmir Forensic Medical Institution. The police started an investigation about the suicide.

Having suicidal thoughts? Please, please stop long enough to read this. It will only take about five minutes: http://www.metanoia.org/suicide/

To the best of our knowledge, the online and IRL resources below will provide you with a safe and non-judgmental space.

IRC / Chatlines

Hotlines

Sexual Assault Resources

If you know of any other suicide resources where you live or work, please do let us know so that we can add them to our website. To contact us, email us at info@lgbtinewsturkey.com, or see http://lgbtinewsturkey.com/about/.

http://lgbtinewsturkey.com/2015/03/04/suicide-resources/

 

Homosexual Week from the Consulate

Source: İpek Yezdani, “Eşcinsel Haftası Konsolosluktan,” (“Homosexual Week from the Consulate,”) Hürriyet, 28 June 2014, http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/26700350.asp

American and Turkish LGBTI university students met at a panel hosted by the Consulate General of the United States of America within the scope of the “Istanbul 2014 LGBTI Pride Week”. The students shared their stories and their difficulties.

American and Turkish LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and intersex) university students discussed their experiences in university campuses and dorms as well as the homophobic attitudes they are exposed to.

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“I Became Ela in Istanbul”

At the panel hosted by the Consulate General of the United States of America in Istanbul at Tophane Studio X, Marvin Alfaro from New York University, Öktem Usumi from Boğaziçi University, Tuğkan Gündoğdu from Istanbul University, and Ela Kaçar (trans) from Bilgi University shared their experiences. Kaçar said, “I was born in Samsun, I went through terrible thing during middle school, I came out to my mom at age 16. Then I became Ela in Istanbul. I started my university life with my identity as Ela and I was very happy in the first years because I could be there in my real identity that is my female identity. However, a few years later, it was revealed that I had become a woman through surgery and my friends’ behaviors towards me changed. They started calling me a convert (dönme) behind my back. I went through huge traumas. Then I joined the LGBTI movement and became an activist.”

The Consul General of the United States of America Charles Hunter emphasized the importance of the panel and explained the personal importance of the issue by saying, “I felt obligated because of my personal connections. I am gay and I do not hesitate to say this.”

 

Bridging Disability and LGBTI movements…

Source: Özgecan B. “Sakatlık ve LGBTI hareketleri arasında bir köprü…” (“Bridging Disability and LGBTI movements…”) Radikal Blog, 22 June 2014, http://blog.radikal.com.tr/lgbt/sakatlik-ve-lgbti-hareketleri-arasinda-bir-kopru-64180

Good things happen too!

I have volunteered for various causes and supported many projects, some realized, others not. But this time around, I am excited in an entirely different way and I would like to share it.

It all started with us being involved in the Activism Program conducted by SPoD (Social Policy, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Studies Association) in September. As participants in this program, we were expected to break into groups, propose and carry out projects in relation to the LGBT movement. My group decided to work on the issue of “disabled LGBTI individuals”. We were not sure whether we would quickly disengage or actually succeed but to this day, we are actively continuing the Disabled LGBTI project! I have always admired those projects from afar, where you see someone spending time to really improve lives, thinking, “Someone is (thankfully) taking care of this and we have a chance to get involved.” Now we are past that point and I can really say that it is an exceptional feeling to be at the front center of the type of project I used to regard with such admiration…

So let me tell you a little bit about it:

This project, which we hope will be sustainable, aims to conduct research and work on current disability and LGBTI issues that we think may turn into social problems in the future. We organize meetings that focus on the questions of: Which kinds of projects are practically feasible? What must be done to reach an extensive number of people? How may we devise progressive resolutions? It is through these discussions that we develop the project. These efforts are geared to design projects that focus on disabled LGBTI individuals so that the disability movement and the LGBTI movement, which at the moment stand removed from each other, may be bridged.

At first we read up on various issues and conducted discussions on concepts including, “normal,” “loss of ability” and “disability and sexuality.” We engaged with the question of how the term “handicapped” is different from the term “disabled” and looked into social approaches besides medical approaches with regard to disability. We also participated in an awareness study entitled, “Education on Correct Approaches to the Disabled.” At this time, we are working towards conducting weekly meetings/gatherings with disabled LGBTI individuals. We are working with GETEM (Technological and Educational Laboratory for the Visually Disabled) to dub LGBTI related books and we are in the process of contacting the Kadıköy Municipality Center for the Disabled. Finally, we are extremely excited to be holding a Disabled LGBTI panel within the framework of Pride Week!

You can follow our activities through the following links [in Turkish]:

http://engellilgbti.tumblr.com and https://twitter.com/engellilgbti

You can also reach us at engellilgbti@spod.org.tr, should you wish to participate in our ongoing activities or contact us.

Turkish Psychological Association launches LGBTI unit

Source: “Türk Psikologlar Derneği’nden LGBTİ Çalışmaları Birimi,” (“Turkish Psychological Association launches LGBTI unit”), kaosGL.org, June 20, 2014, http://kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=16901

The Turkish Psychological Association (TPD) launched an LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex) Unit to work against homophobia and transphobia.
TPD on May Day 2014 in Ankara
The unit will conduct awareness-raising activities on the rights and freedoms of LGBTI people aimed at psychologists, relevant occupational groups, students in psychology departments and the general public. The LGBTI Unit will hold its first meeting on June 29, 2014. The Turkish Psychological Association stands against all kind of attempts to ‘convert’ LGBTI people.

 

On the Dismissal of Police Officer F.E.: “These kinds of officers are to be cleaned out immediately!”

Source: Burcu Karakaş. “Bu tür memurlar hemen ayıklanır!” (“These kinds of officers are to be cleaned out immediately!”) Milliyet, 16 June 2014, http://www.milliyet.com.tr/bu-tur-memurlar-hemen-ayiklanir–gundem-1897738/

Police officer F.E. had been dismissed from office with a disciplinary investigation because he is gay. When he went to court to amend the decision, he received the following answer from the Ministry of Internal Affairs: “The law foresees that these kinds of officers are to be immediately cleaned out!”

Police officer F.E. was subjected to disciplinary investigation because he is gay and the investigation resulted in his removal from office. He went to the court to appeal the decision. His suit was rejected by every court that he applied to. Upon his appeal to the Council of State, he received a written response from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Deputy Legal Advisor. The statement included scandalous phrases. One Ministry official stated the following: “It is without a doubt that if civil services are run by officers who are less than reputable, this would damage people’s confidence in the administration. The law aims to prevent these kinds of developments and foresees that those who are responsible are removed from civil service and thus eliminated from the instruments of administration.” Even though the Council of State Investigation Judge wrote a dissenting opinion noting the right to “private life,” F.E.’s plea was overruled by majority voting.

“Embarrassing actions”

In 2009, there was a denunciation against Istanbul police officer F.E. with allegations that he kept child pornography. The police raided his house based on the allegations, which turned out to be false. It was decided that there was a lack of grounds for legal action. However, certain documents were found on F.E.’s computer, which pointed to the fact that he is gay. This resulted in a disciplinary investigation on his behalf. The investigation ended with the Ministry of Internal Affairs High Disciplinary Commission ruling for F.E.’s removal from civil service due to the charge of “acting in shameful and embarrassing ways that do not agree with the qualities of civil service.” Upon this decision, the police officer went to the 8th Administrative Court in Istanbul to demand that the decision be reversed. The court maintained that the ruling was within legislation and rejected F.E.’s appeal.

After this rejection, F.E. appealed to the Council of State. The 12th Department of the Council of State studied and rejected F.E.’s appeal eight months ago, thereby approving the decision of his removal from office. At this time, F.E.’s lawyer Fırat Söyle took the appeal back to the 12th Department of the Council of State with a request to revise the decision.

Council of State Investigation Judge Şevket Polat argued that the actions, which resulted in F.E.’s removal from office, were to be considered within the framework of “private life” in accordance with the 20th article of the Constitution as well as the 8th Article of the European Convention on Human Rights. Polat thus put forth that these actions did not constitute a disciplinary breach and advised for an issue of stay order. However, members of the department unanimously rejected the judge’s request with the justification that “the reasoning presented did not constitute due grounds for a stay order.”

“He lives with a woman who is of legal age”

The Ministry of Internal Affairs delivered a statement in response to the appeal about revising the decision. The statement included the justifications for why F.E. had to be removed from office. The Ministry Deputy Legal Advisor Adnan Türkdamar authored the statement, which explains that there were times when F.E. shared the same living quarters with two men who are known to be gay. Also, F.E.’s living together with a woman was described as a “shameful and embarrassing action.”

The Ministry responded with the following in relation to the discrimination appeal: “The law aims for civil service to be carried out by credible, trustworthy and socially prestigious agents. It is without a doubt that if civil services are run by officers who are less than reputable, this would damage individuals’ confidence in the administration and result in undesirable developments in the relations between individuals and the administration. As such, the law aims to prevent such a development and foresees that those who are responsible are removed from civil service and that these kinds of officers are eliminated from the instruments of administration.”