For decades, there have been reports of murders and crimes targeted towards LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people in Turkey.
[3] As a result, numerous homicide victims are LGBT people who get murdered due to hate crimes.
[6] Ekrem Yılmaz, a 49-year-old retired worker, was killed on 27 August 1999 by young men he had an affair with at home, but his murderers were never found.
As long as my breath is sufficient enough, I will take a stand against this discrimination, this speciesism, this cruelty that ignores and destroys those who are not like them; I'll take the side of those whose right to live was blocked.
"[13] Artist Sezen Aksu later issued a letter dedicated to "İrem" on the anniversary of the founding of SPoD, which was opened to commemorate LGBT individuals who were killed.
[14] Following the incident on 22 September 2010,[15] the suspect was arrested later that day,[16] and on 7 April 2011 he was sentenced to 28 years and 4 months in prison.
[17] In July 2012, 17-year-old Kurdish Roşin Çiçek from Kayapınar, who had tried to run away from home as he was subject to domestic violence due to his homosexuality, was later killed by his father and uncles and his body was thrown on the roadside.
[20] On November 20, 2013 in İskenderun, Hatay, 27-year-old Ferhat İlken was handcuffed, his feet were tied, his head was sacked and smashed and he was eventually strangled.