Kadıköy Municipality on Women’s Day Banners

Click here to read the article in Turkish / Haberin Türkçesi için buraya tıklayın

Kadıköy Mayor Aykurt Nuhoğlu has replied to reactions against banners hung read “I am lesbian, bisexual, trans, intersex: I am at school, parliament, everywhere!” for International Women’s Day.

Remarking “I don’t think it does any harm to them, Nuhoğlu stating they have to represent all citizens has spoken as “. May they not be interested in people’s expressing themselves”.

Campaign, counter campaign

Kadıköy and Şişli municipalities of İstanbul have brought billboards into use of women and LGBTI NGOs because of March 8, International Women’s Day.

The banner read ““I am lesbian, bisexual, trans, intersex: I am at school, parliament, everywhere!” prepared by Lambdaistanbul LGBTI Solidarity Association is one of them.

Campaign has been launched on change.org titled “May Kadıköy Municipality remove this billboard” following the banner taking place on the billboards.

Upon this campaign, a counter campaign has been launched to have it removed by saying “Isn’t starting a hate campaign against LGBTI members contradicting principles of change.org?”

Justice and Development Party (AKP) Kadıköy district Preisdent, İsa Mesih Şahin in his written statement has called on the municipality to apologize which it blamed for “Explicitly supporting a subject that is at variance with values of family and society”.

Nuhoğlu: What harm does it do to them?

Mayor Nuhoğlu of whom we asked opinion about the reactions against the banners said, “I got curious of what harm it does to them”.

“It is not something against them. It is an effort to enable LGBTI members to express themselves. As far as I see, it doesn’t harm them.

“They will stay on the billboards until March 8 and then it will be over. We have to represent all citizens. As local administration, we hold ourselves responsible.

“There are much more important things in this country. There is almost a civil war in the east, we have five martyrs almost every day, I think they shall be interested in real issues of the country, may they not be interested in people’s expressing themselves”. (BK/TK)