Turkey has expanded its “Ailem Güvende” (“My Family Is Safe”) campaign into a nationwide judicial initiative, with the Justice Ministry instructing prosecutors across all 81 provinces to investigate activities authorities claim encourage the “gender-neutralisation” of children and young people, collect digital evidence and seek access restrictions where deemed necessary.
According to T24, Justice Minister Akın Gürlek sent a circular to 175 chief public prosecutors’ offices responsible for serious criminal courts across Turkey’s 81 provinces, under the heading “Protection of the Family, Young People and Society from Content and Organisations Contrary to General Morality and Having Negative Effects”.
The instruction calls on prosecutors to investigate the aims and methods behind activities alleged to encourage children and young people towards what the authorities describe as “gender-neutralisation”. Prosecutors were also instructed to rapidly assess reports concerning allegedly obscene or criminal content targeting young people, immediately collect digital evidence and impose or seek access restrictions when considered necessary.
The nationwide directive represents a significant escalation of the campaign reported by The Levant Files on Sunday, when coordinated “Ailem Güvende” operations were launched across 15 provinces, targeting LGBTQI+ organisations, activists, entertainment venues and online platforms.
Raids centred on Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Aydın and Mersin were carried out over allegations including establishing an organisation for criminal purposes, prostitution, obscenity and drug-related offences. According to T24, the Istanbul Bar Association’s Human Rights Centre said it had established that at least 54 people had been detained, while noting that the identities of some other detainees had yet to be confirmed.
The campaign has simultaneously expanded into the media and wider civil society.
In a separate development reported by T24, Istanbul’s Bakırköy 4th Criminal Judgeship of Peace ordered access restrictions affecting 48 X accounts, 10 Instagram accounts and one website. Among those targeted were accounts associated with the Evrensel newspaper, Amnesty International Turkey, the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) and Academics for Peace, alongside feminist organisations, journalists, lawyers and LGBTQI+ groups.
The decision also affected accounts belonging to journalists and rights advocates, while prosecutors alleged that some targeted accounts had disseminated “obscene content” or material characterised by the authorities as “LGBT propaganda”. Others were accused of targeting ongoing judicial investigations.
The combination of the nationwide ministerial directive, police operations and digital restrictions marks a substantial broadening of the campaign. What initially emerged as coordinated raids primarily targeting LGBTQI+ organisations and venues is increasingly encompassing independent media, human rights organisations, feminist groups, lawyers and other sections of civil society.
The language of the Justice Ministry’s new circular is particularly significant. By instructing prosecutors throughout Turkey to gather evidence and consider access restrictions in cases involving broadly defined concepts such as “general morality” and the alleged “gender-neutralisation” of young people, the campaign now has a nationwide judicial framework rather than being confined to individual investigations.
The developments therefore point to two increasingly intertwined fronts: intensified state pressure on Turkey’s LGBTQI+ community and a wider restriction of the digital and civic space available to journalists, rights defenders and opposition-oriented civil society.
The expansion raises concerns that a campaign officially presented as protecting children, families and public morality could extend considerably beyond LGBTQI+ advocacy, with potential consequences for freedom of expression, independent journalism and organised civic dissent across Turkey.
Turkey’s widening crackdown on LGBTQI+ organisations and activists has entered a new phase, with authorities ordering access restrictions on social media accounts belonging not only to LGBTQI+ groups but also to a major newspaper, journalists, human rights organisations and civil society initiatives.
According to T24, a decision by Istanbul’s Bakırköy 4th Criminal Judgeship of Peace restricted access to dozens of accounts, including those belonging to the Evrensel newspaper, Amnesty International Turkey, the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) and Academics for Peace. The restrictions also targeted feminist organisations, journalists, lawyers and LGBTQI+ groups.
T24 reported that the September 13 court decision covers 48 X accounts, 10 Instagram accounts and one website, although the eventual number of affected accounts could be higher. Prosecutors alleged that the targeted accounts had published “obscene content” and material they characterised as “LGBT propaganda”, while some accounts were also accused of targeting ongoing judicial investigations.
The latest restrictions significantly broaden the scope of a crackdown that initially focused primarily on Turkey’s LGBTQI+ community.
As The Levant Files reported on Sunday, authorities launched coordinated operations under the name “Ailem Güvende” (“My Family Is Safe”) across 15 provinces. Judicial proceedings were initiated against 162 people, nine associations and 13 businesses, while numerous websites and social media accounts were subjected to access restrictions.
The investigations were coordinated by prosecutors in Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Aydın and Mersin. According to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, allegations under investigation include establishing an organisation for criminal purposes, prostitution, obscenity and drug-related offences. Authorities have presented the operations as measures intended to protect children, the institution of the family and what they describe as society’s “common moral values”.
Police operations also targeted LGBTQI+ associations and entertainment venues, while activists were detained. Among those taken into custody was performer Arif Saçlı, widely known as “Zenne Arif”, according to T24.
The September 13 access-blocking decision, however, suggests that the campaign is expanding beyond organisations directly associated with LGBTQI+ rights.
Among the newly targeted accounts are those of journalists Eren Keskin, Fırat Fıstık and Özlem Akarsu Çelik, as well as feminist organisations, the Climate Justice Coalition, lawyers’ groups and other civil society initiatives. Evrensel, whose X account was included in the restrictions, described the measure as part of a campaign of “digital censorship” accompanying the “Ailem Güvende” operations and called on its readers to show solidarity.
The latest measures therefore connect two increasingly intertwined fronts: the authorities’ campaign against LGBTQI+ organisations and a broader restriction of the digital space used by journalists, human rights defenders and opposition-oriented civil society.
What began as an operation officially justified through the language of protecting children, families and public morality is now affecting organisations whose principal activities concern journalism, freedom of expression and human rights. The expansion raises broader concerns that the “Ailem Güvende” campaign could become a vehicle for restricting not only LGBTQI+ advocacy but also independent journalism and wider forms of civic dissent in Turkey.