But the event was not without incident: As ABC News reported,the Istanbul Pride Committee heard “unconfirmed reports” of at least 15 protestors being detained. Nevertheless, photos and videos of Istanbul Pride participants waving Pride flags and holding protest signs soon made it to social media, along with a defiant statement from Istanbul Pride.

“Today, you closed down Istiklal, blocked all roads and squares leading to it. You halted life in a whole city,” Istanbul Pride said in a statement shared to X. “But you forgot one thing: if necessary, we can pierce through stones, bend time, and once again find each other in our smiles.”

“We never tired of deceiving the police, forcing them to deal with us,” the statement continued. “[...] We didn’t recognize your absurd bans; in one day, we changed continents, partied until dawn, organized in the streets. GET USED TO IT, WE ARE EVERYWHERE.”

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Istanbul Pride, which began in 2003, was once a major event, attracting as many as 100,000 people in 2014. When Pride protestors marched in 2019, they faced police who fired plastic bullets and tear gas at them. That same year, 25 students were arrested and stood trial for holding a Pride parade at Middle East Technical University in the Turkish capital of Ankara.

This crackdown on Pride celebrations coincides with the anti-LGBTQ+ policies of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who assumed office in 2014. In October 2023, Erdogan made headlines for stating that he didn’t “recognize [the] LGBT [community],” pledging that, “We will dry the roots of sneaky acts aiming to destroy our family institution by supporting perverse political, social, and individual trends.”

Although homosexuality isn’t illegal in Turkey, the LGBTQ+ community has no federal laws protecting queer and trans people from discrimination. Nevertheless, Istanbul Pride and their supporters remained resolute in their 2024 Pride statement.

“Know this, 12th President, who made us a target in his victory speech: your organized family gatherings, your divisive politics won’t work on us,” the group wrote. “We won’t leave the streets, politics, or our lives to you.”

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