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To the Government of Turkey
End violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Enact a comprehensive non-discrimination law containing specific protections against unequal treatment based on sexual orientation and gender identity in all areas of life.
Amend the Constitution to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Ensure the participation of civil society, in particular that of LGBT organizations, in the development and discussion of these initiatives and reforms.
Ratify Protocol 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights, to ensure that all people, without discrimination, are entitled to all rights set forth by law.
Eliminate vague and sweeping laws against “indecency,” “exhibitionism,” and “offenses against public morality,” which are often used to harass, arrest, or persecute people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Review the Misdemeanor Law (Kabahatler Kanunu) with a view to eliminating terms and articles that in their vagueness invite prejudicial and discriminatory application.
Review other laws to eliminate ambiguous content and, if their inclusion is deemed necessary, to offer precise definitions of terms such as “public morals” and “obscenity.”
Adopt policy measures ensuring protection of the rights of freedom of opinion and expression regarding issues of sexuality and gender.
Change military policy to eliminate sexual-orientation and gender-identity-based exclusion from the armed forces.
End the ban on homosexuals serving in the armed forces, by amending the Turkish Armed Forces Health Requirement Regulation to exclude sexual orientation from the List of Illnesses and Disabilities.
Allow conscientious objection, if compulsory military service is deemed necessary.
End all humiliating medical examinations to test for homosexual conduct. End all questioning once a person has stated their homosexuality.
Prohibit long periods of detention in military hospitals to test for homosexual conduct.
Take action to identify and end bullying and harassment due to sexual orientation in the armed forces.
Ensure full respect and legal recognition for each person’s profound self-defined gender identity, as set forth in the Yogyakarta Principles, an authoritative interpretation of how international human rights law applies to issues of sexual orientation and gender identity.242
Take all necessary legislative, administrative, and other measures to fully respect and legally recognize each person’s profound self-defined gender identity.
Take all necessary legislative, administrative, and other measures to ensure that procedures exist whereby all state-issued identity papers which indicate a person’s gender/sex — including birth certificates, passports, electoral records, and other documents — reflect the person’s profound self-defined gender identity, regardless of whether surgical or medical interventions have taken place.
Ensure that such procedures are efficient, fair, and non-discriminatory, and respect the dignity and privacy of the person concerned.
Ensure that changes to identity documents will be recognized in all contexts where the identification or disaggregation of persons by gender is required by law or policy.
Undertake targeted programs to provide social support for all persons experiencing gender transitioning or reassignment.
Ensure that such procedures are efficient, fair, and non-discriminatory, and respect the dignity and privacy of the person concerned.
Examine laws and regulations affecting sex work to ensure that they are fair, do not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, and fully protect the rights of all individuals in the sex industry.
Review the Law for Protecting Prostitution to extend the possibility of sex work to transgender people that do not have a pink card.
Ensure that transgender people have access and are able to work safely in places authorized for sex work.
Ensure that all persons engaging in sex work are protected against abuse or exploitation, by police or by any other agents.
Comply with the European Union Directive 2000/78/ED “establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation.”
Publicly endorse the directive and disseminate among all public entities.
Eliminate the requirement of military service for men applying for state employment.
Develop programs, in cooperation with transgender communities, to open employment possibilities outside sex work for transgender people.
Guarantee adequate procedures of remedy and redress for people facing discrimination in employment based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Revise legislation to ensure that all elements of the Directive become part of Turkish law, including the shifting of the burden of proof, adequate and dissuasive sanctions, and the creation of an independent body to assist those suffering from discrimination.
Train all criminal justice system officials on principles of human rights and nondiscrimination, including those relating to sexual orientation and gender identity.
Develop these training programs in cooperation with civil society groups, including lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender people, and sex workers.
Adequately investigate and prosecute crimes of violence and rape regardless of the sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity of the victim.
Publish a directive from the Minister of Interior to the civil police and gendarmerie calling them to register and follow up on all complaints related to violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
Follow up and report on compliance with this directive in police districts nationwide.
Direct criminal justice officials to compile and publish disaggregated data on crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, as well as against other people targets of discrimination, including ethnic, linguistic, and religious identities.
Ensure that domestic violence protection orders under the Law on Protection of the Family are available to all family members and to same-sex partners without discrimination; Guarantee that all services for victims of domestic violence are both non-discriminatory and sensitive to issues of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Comply with the recommendation made by the CEDAW in its 2005 report on Turkey and provide sex-disaggregated statistics and data relating to women and girls “in the judiciary, trafficked women and girls, as well as Kurdish women and other groups of women [emphasis added]” on issues related to violence committed against them.
Issue a directive to community based services, including shelters, managed by the state guaranteeing the provision of services to all women and girls without discrimination on the basis of, inter alia, sexual orientation or gender identity.
Ensure that all associations of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people are permitted to meet, organize, obtain legal status, and share and impart information.
Review the interpretations of “public morals” in the Law on Associations to ensure the protection of all activities in the defense of human rights.
Ensure that children under the age of 18 have access to these organizations and are able to create their own.
Engage in a constructive dialogue with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender organizations to ensure effective support of their work as human rights defenders:
Secure trainings on the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Declaration on Human Rights Defenders) for state officials, with particular attention to the work of activists on issues of sexual orientation or gender identity as human rights defenders.
Ensure that organizations of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people participate in and are consulted on initiatives related to human rights.
To the Turkish Medical Profession
Disavow the notion that homosexuality is a mental or physical pathology.
Adopt and publicize ethical codes and standards setting forth the responsibilities of medical professionals when treating persons deprived of their liberty. Such codes and standards should be consistent with international standards barring the participation of medical professionals in torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, and in non-consensual body searches of prisoners.
Appropriately punish doctors who participate in degrading medical examinations to “prove” homosexuality.
Enact standards for therapeutic interventions with transgender people, including sex reassignment surgery, in consultation with transgender people.
Adopt and put into practice the “Standards of Care” set forth by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health.
Create standards for non-discrimination in health care provision, including non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Develop these standards in cooperation with members of the lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender people, and sex workers organizations.
To the International Medical Profession and Bodies Including the World Medical Association and the World Health Organization
Condemn the participation of Turkish medical professionals in torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, and in abusive and non-consensual body searches of those seeking military exemption.
To the European Union
Ensure that issues of sexual orientation and gender identity are fully incorporated into its monitoring of Turkey, and work with Turkey on adapting its laws to EU standards, and in any judicial, police, or other training funded by the EU.
Press all countries entering the accession process to bring about legislative and policy-related change on issues of sexual orientation and gender identity, taking as a model the changes recommended above.
Ensure the integration of sexual orientation and gender identity issues in all new directives relating to the implementation of Article 13 of the Treaty of Union, so that protections on those bases extend beyond the sphere of employment.
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