Gay rights proposed to Turkish Parliament

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

REUTERS photo

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) requested Feb. 14 a parliamentary commission of inquiry be set up on LGBT rights in Turkey.

One of the signatories of the motion, the CHP's Istanbul deputy Binnaz Toprak said Parliament was turning a blind eye to the discrimination faced by the LGBT community in Turkey.

"The attitude of the political institution determines the attitudes of officials working in the state bureaucracy as well. Hence, one of the biggest complaints of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transsexuals is the attitude shown by the police toward them. The police may sometimes use unlawful methods against them. [For that reason] these communities, which form a significant part of our society, are feeling unsafe," said Toprak.

Toprak also emphasized that the concepts of sexual orientation and sexual identity were left out of the law on violence against women, adding that a lot of LGBT individuals were suffering abuses such as discrimination, harassment, mobbing and stigmatization.

The motion also requests the identification of all the problems faced by LGBT communities in Turkey through the commission's work.