Journalist, LGBTI+ activist Yıldız Tar released after a month in detention

Yıldız Tar, editor-in-chief of the LGBTI+-focused news outlet Kaos GL, has been released after a month in pretrial detention over alleged “terrorism” offenses.

Tar was detained during police operations ahead of the NATO leaders summit that took place in Ankara on Jul 7-8 and formally arrested on Jun 25.

The crackdown saw the detention of more then 200 people, including journalists, environmental activists, academics and students for “being a member of a terrorist organization.”

Some of those those detained, includign several journalists, have been released since then.

Ankara University associate professor Emel Memiş, Umut-Sen union spokesperson Burcu Arıkan and several volunteers for the Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion (TEMA) were also released yesterday. 

During questioning, prosecutors asked Tar about their interview of the “Family Year” campaign run by the government throughout 2025, which was widely used in a manner that particularly targets LGBTI+ rights advocacy.

“I have published various news reports, interviews, discussions and articles about the Year of the Family policies,” Tar said in their statement. “All of these fall within the requirements of my profession as a journalist and the scope of freedom of expression.”

“As a journalist, I could never praise or encourage any act of violence, let alone terrorism offenses,” Tar said. “I work as a journalist and writer to defend the fundamental rights and freedoms of the LGBTI+ community, of which I am a member, and to challenge prejudice against this community. In my statements, I exercised my freedom of expression through criticism.”

Tar was kept in Ankara’s Sincan Prison during their arrest.

Tar also spent over three months in pretrial detention last year over their involvement in the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK), a Kurdish and leftist umbrella group, facing “terrorism” charges.

(VC/VK)