MIA of Turkey called LGBTI+s “deviants”

Turkish students depict sacred Islamic site alongside rainbows. They’re arrested by police and dubbed ‘deviants’ by ministers.

Four students were detained Saturday (30 January) and dubbed “deviants” by Turkey’s interior minister over a piece of artwork that reportedly depicted rainbows alongside the Kaaba.

The Kaaba is the most sacred site in Islam, being a building in the centre of the Masjid al-Haram mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Tensions have simmered at Boğaziçi University in Instanbul after a supposed loyalist of Turkey’s governing party, the Justice and Development Party, was appointed as a senior official by president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Student-led pushback erupted earlier this month, as demonstrators, many holding LGBT+ Pride flags, argued that the presidential appointment of professor Melih Bulu as rector went against the university’s 158-year-long.

According to Ahval, yet another fever pitch in the weeks-long outcry was sparked when four students allegedly laid down a piece of artwork that depicted the Kaaba alongside rainbow symbols commonly associated with LGBT+ Pride.

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office accused the students of “laying a photo of the Kaaba on the ground in a Boğaziçi University exhibition”.

LGBT+ Pride flags ‘seized’ as student’s rooms raided for allegedly placing rainbow artwork

LGBT+ Pride flags were “seized” during a police search of the student’s rooms, the İstanbul Governor’s Office said in a statement, calling it an “ugly attack” that “mocked religious beliefs”.

“Four LGBT deviants, who disrespected the Islamic holy site, the Kaaba, have been detained at Boğaziçi University,” tweeted Süleyman Soylu Friday evening (29 January).

Source: PinkNews