Istanbul governor turns down press release demand of LGBT groups

The refusal comes after the groups were also denied the right to hold an LGBT Pride March planned for June 26.
The Governor’s Office said the demand “was not deemed suitable in line with law number 5442,” considering “the terror attacks occurring in our country and our region and considering social sensitivities.”
 
The statement also said the requested meeting might cause “provocative actions and events” and lead to a “distortion of public order and people’s peace, security and well-being, including those who will attend the event.”

The applying groups said they would take the decision to an administrative court. 

Istanbul police on June 19 dispersed a group of around 50 people who wanted to stage an LGBT Trans Pride March Taksim Square. That march had been banned and the one scheduled for June 26 was also banned by the Istanbul Governor’s Office.

The bans came three days after the Alperen Hearths, an ultranationalist youth organization linked to the nationalist Great Union Party (BBP), vowed to prevent them.

A Turkish court had arrested three suspected Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants on June 17 after a tip-off that they planned to attack the June 19 march.