Turkish online stores told to mark LGBT-themed products as ’18+’

LGBT rights activists run as riot police use a water cannon to disperse them before a Gay Pride Parade in central Istanbul, Turkey

Credit: STRINGER/TURKEY /REUTERS

Turkish officials have told websites that sell products with LGBT symbols, such as the rainbow flag, to label them “18+” due to concerns about children’s welfare.

According to BBC Turkish, the country’s ministry of trade has taken “a decision to protect children,” but has stressed that the request does not amount to a ban on LGBT-themed goods.

“Sale of the products that have LGBT inscription as well as LGBT and rainbow themes without an age warning would affect children’s mental development negatively,” a trade ministry official told BBC Turkish.

“In this decision, there is no prohibition on the sale of products, it is stated that the platforms that sell such products should only include the ’18+ years old’ warning in terms of protecting children,” they added.

The Telegraph has approached the Turkish government for comment on the reports.

BBC Turkish said it had also seen a letter written by Oğuz Şahin, a senior trade ministry official, which urged online vendors to be “sensitive” about use of the rainbow flag.

“E-commerce platforms, which are widely used by consumers throughout the country, should be sensitive to this issue and I request your information to take the aforementioned measures,” Mr Şahin reportedly stated in the letter.

The labelling policy is said to have been agreed “unanimously” by the Turkish advertising board, which is part of the trade ministry.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish president, has been accused of ramping up anti-LGBT rhetoric to shore up his support among right-wing and religious voters.

Some opinion polls suggest that Mr Erdogan’s AK party is hemorrhaging support due to the economic crisis created by the coronavirus pandemic. 

In April, Mr Erdoğan publicly backed a senior Turkish cleric who claimed that homosexuality “brings disease and causes generational decay.”

In his defence, Mr Erdoğan said the cleric, Ali Erbas, was fulfilling his duties of “faith, the wisdom of Islam and his office.”

It follows Mr Erdoğan’s controversial decision to turn the Hagia Sophia, a Greek Orthodox cathedral, back into a mosque earlier this year.

That move was also widely regarded as an attempt to win back traditional Muslim AK voters, though it was strongly condemned by Greece and the Russian Orthdox Church.