At 6.30am on 18 February, Turkish police arrived at the home of journalist Yıldız Tar with a search warrant, detaining them on charges of ‘membership of a terrorist organization’. According to Kaos GL, the LGBTQI+ media platform where Tar is editor-in-chief, the work phone calls used as evidence for their arrest – some dating back over a decade – were obtained through illegal phone taps.
Tar was one of 52 activists and journalists arrested that morning in nationwide raids targeting the Peoples’ Democratic Congress – a union of progressive organizations. Kaos GL warns that the raids are a ‘test case for Turkey’s broader authoritarian crackdown’, and that if Tar’s arrest goes unchallenged, others could follow.
