3 February 2018 – Ali Erol, leading LGBTI activist, and one of the founders of Turkish association KAOS GL was detained on Friday morning, during a police operation in the house he shares with his life partner. 
While there is no clear information on the grounds of his detention, lawyers said his social media posts were included in the detention warrant. Detention of many people in Ankara is being conducted recently with police raids in people’s homes citing their social media posts as main reason. 
Ali Erol is a leading LGBTI activist in his country and abroad. In 1994 he joined the initial team which published the KAOS GL magazine and later on co-founded the organization itself. In 2013 he was the recepient of the David Kato Vision & Voice Award. 
The detention of Erol, shows once again the point freedom of expression has come to in Turkey. This event, follows also the “banning of LGBTI events for an indefinite period” by Ankaras governor in November 2017. All these actions reveal the increasing obstacles and pressure against any form of LGBTI activism and rights advocacy. 
ERA joins the call of LGBTI activists from KAOS GL and all over Turkey, in demanding the immediate release of Ali Erol emphasizing once again that freedom of expression is a fundamental human right and that LGBTI rights are human rights.