Turkey's Erdoğan launches 'Year of the Family' with an attack on the LGBTQ community

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan marked the launch of Turkey’s “Year of the Family” on Monday with an attack on the LGBTQ community and the announcement of measures to boost birth rates.

ISTANBUL — President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan marked the launch of Turkey’s “Year of the Family” on Monday with an attack on the LGBTQ community and the announcement of measures to boost birth rates.

Citing the “historical truth that a strong family paves the way for a strong state,” Erdoğan unveiled a series of financial measures to support young families.

The president returned to themes he has espoused before about LGBTQ people, including the portrayal of the LGBTQ movement as part of a foreign conspiracy aimed at undermining Turkey.

“It is our common responsibility to protect our children and youth from harmful trends and perverse ideologies. Neoliberal cultural trends are crossing borders and penetrating all corners of the world,” he told an audience in Ankara. “They also lead to LGBT and other movements gaining ground.

“The target of gender neutralization policies, in which LGBT is used as a battering ram, is the family. Criticism of LGBT is immediately silenced, just like the legitimate criticisms of Zionism. Anyone who defends nature and the family is subject to heavy oppression.”