Türkiye’s crackdown on LGBTI rights – the impact on trans people in prison

Since 12 September 2026, Turkish authorities have intensified a nationwide crackdown on LGBTI people, organisations and human rights defenders. At least 117 people have reportedly been detained, with at least 83 held in pre-trial detention.

As part of our Peer Networking Zone (PeerNetz), TGEU is hosting a meeting to explore healthcare designed by and for trans people, rooted in community knowledge and care. We’ll be joined by Trans Healthcare Action, the organisation behind Kindred, Ireland’s first peer-led trans health clinic.

TGEU served on the Expert Advisory Group for the publication Advancing SOGIE Rights in Detention: Promising Practices, a new guidance note published by the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT).

Selected participants will meet policymakers from the European Parliament and the European Commission. The programme includes one full day and approximately half a day of institutional meetings. 

We, the undersigned organisations, condemn the large-scale police raids and detentions targeting LGBTI activists and human rights defenders, organisations and community spaces across Türkiye.

Around 200 trans activists from across Europe and Central Asia will gather in Ljubljana this week for the 10th TGEU European and Central Asian Trans Council, taking place from 11–13 September.

At the end of July, the Supreme Court decided in favour of four trans applicants seeking legal recognition of their gender identity. The ruling aligns Bulgarian practice with the Court of Justice of the EU, enabling changes to gender markers, names, and personal identification numbers.

In June 2026, the UN Trans Advocacy Week (TAW) 2026 brought trans and gender diverse activists from across the world to Geneva to connect their local struggles with the international human rights system.

Our latest report aims to empower trans communities to better understand and claim their fundamental rights. It also helps legal professionals, equality bodies, and policymakers to understand their legal obligations to ensure equal protection.

Across Europe and Central Asia, governments are increasingly introducing laws and policies that reinforce a strict gender binary, restricting the rights, healthcare and public lives of trans and gender diverse people.  

The two-day training in July 2026 aimed to strengthen participants' knowledge and practical skills in strategic litigation and the use of international human rights mechanisms.

TGEU was proud to contribute to the 26th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026) in Rio de Janeiro, to help shape global conversations on the future of HIV prevention and the health of trans communities.