Almost 400 arrests during the Istanbul Pride march

Nearly 400 people were detained on Sunday in Istanbul, Turkey, during the LGTBQ+ Pride march, announced the organizers of the parade and an association for the defense of the rights of people from that group, which indicated that all the detainees were released.

On Sunday “373 people were arrested. All […] they had been released on the morning of June 27,” announced the Turkish association Kaos GL, which defends LGTBQ+ people (lesbians, gays, trans, bisexuals, ‘queer’ and others).

Like every year since 2015, the march had been banned by the city governor, but hundreds of protesters with rainbow flags gathered in the streets adjacent to the famous Taksim Square, completely closed to the public.

Even before the rally began, riot police raided several bars in the neighboring Cihangir neighborhood, arresting those who were there, an AFP team found.

Some of these, including an AFP photographer, began to be released shortly before 11:00 p.m., about six hours after being detained.

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