Turkish State Railways files criminal complaint against pro-LGBTI+ ad

Turkish State Railways (TCDD) has filed a criminal complaint against the pro-LGBTI+ advertisement of the advocacy group Kaos GL broadcast with the slogan of “Hand in hand against hate.” In the complaint, TCDD cited that the advertisement “deviated from its purpose in the application for the shooting permit,” which was shot in Istanbul’s commuter rail Marmaray, affiliated with TCDD.

Monday September 25 2023 09:35 pm

A shot from the LGBTI+ advocacy group Kaos GL's video with the slogan reading "Hand in hand against hate."

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Turkish State Railways (TCDD) on Sept. 25 filed a criminal complaint against a pro-LGBTI+ advertisement of the advocacy group Kaos GL, which was shot in Istanbul’s commuter rail Marmaray, affiliated with TCDD.

In a statement, Marmaray argued an agency applied to their institution to shoot the video in question, saying that they would shoot a commercial advertisement “with a misleading statement” and that the advertisement “deviated from its purpose in the application for the shooting permit.”

“The film was released four years later for a different purpose. While we have initiated legal initiatives against the producer and production company, which made inaccurate statements in their application in 2019, we have also initiated an institutional review process regarding the permit processes. We would like to state that we are very sorry to be involved in such a discussion while serving hundreds of thousands of citizens a day and offer our respects,” it added.

Bazı sosyal medya platformlarında bir gruba ait X hesabından kısa film yayınlanmaktadır.

Söz konusu kısa film 30 Kasım 2019 tarihinde mekan kullanma ücreti karşılığında park yerinde bekleyen boş bir tren setinde çekilmiştir.

Sözkonusu filmin çekimleri için kurumumuza yapılan… pic.twitter.com/hoRLjBkYNT
— Marmaray (@Marmaraytcdd) September 25, 2023

The LGBTI+ advocacy group Kaos GL on Sept. 23 broadcast the advertisement in their social media accounts with the slogan of “Hand in hand against discrimination, oppression, violence and hatred!”

In the video, a man glares at two women holding hands in a metro. After the women are disturbed by the man's staring, other people in the metro next to the women hold each other’s hands, including the women, and the video ends with the slogan of “Hand in hand against discrimination, oppression, violence and hatred!”

🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈KAMU SPOTU: Ayrımcılığa, baskıya, şiddete, nefrete karşı el ele!

29. yaşımızda elimizi uzatmaya devam ediyoruz. Biliyoruz ki o el havada kalmadı, bundan sonra da kalmayacak. El ele büyüdük, el ele yürüdük, el ele verirsek hayat bayram olur... pic.twitter.com/uXvJjJDWRS
— Kaos GL (@KaosGL) September 23, 2023

The LGBTI+ community is often targeted by hate speech of government officials and radical Islamists, who call them “perverted”, and the crimes committed against them go unpunished. Many LGBTI+ individuals say that the country is getting more and more difficult to live in.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has had a particularly firm stance against LGBTI+ communities since the Gezi Park protests of 2013 and the coup attempt of 2016. The annual LGBTI+ pride parade in Istanbul and other major Turkish cities has been banned since 2016, and those that have marched regardless have been met with police violence.