Istanbul police raided two gay bars June 16, pushing patrons into the streets with threats of using pepper spray and billy clubs.
When the patrons then ignored orders to disperse and instead began clapping, some were clubbed, said the Commission for Monitoring Human Rights of LGBTT Persons and Law, a project of several Turkish gay organizations.
The same officers, from the Beyoglu District, then went "hunting" for gays and transgender people elsewhere and attacked several, the commission claimed.
The commission demanded that the city's public prosecutor, the mayor, Parliament and the prime minister "investigate, search and monitor the human rights violations against LGBTT persons."
"We will not be quiet against being prevented from our basic rights of being a human with any arbitrary practices," the group said.
– Reported by Rex Wockner
Istanbul gay bars raided
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