Boyfriend of Slain Turkey Gay Activist Forced to Flea

The partner of Ahmet Yildiz, the Turkish gay activist who was shot and killed, has been forced to flee Turkey in fear of his life. Yildiz, a 26-year-old physics student, was shot leaving a cafe on the Bosphorus strait during the weekend. It has been reported by several sources the killing was an “honor killing” by his own family, as being gay is widely unacceptable in Turkey. Yildiz’s partner, who held a German passport, fled Turkey on the advice of the consulate. He had no rights over his partner’s body, which has been left lying in the city morgue.

Turkey’s Gay Pioneer Shot - Funeral In Istanbul

In a corner of Istanbul Saturday, July 19th, the man who might be described as Turkey’s gay poster boy will be buried – a victim, his friends believe, of the country’s deepening friction between an increasingly liberal society and its entrenched conservative traditions.

Ahmet Yildiz, 26, a physics student who represented his country at an international gay gathering in San Francisco last year, was shot leaving a cafe near the Bosphorus strait this week. Fatally wounded, the student tried to flee the attackers in his car, but lost control, crashed at the side of the road and died shortly afterwards in hospital. His friends believe Mr Yildiz was the victim of the country’s first gay honour killing. Get the rest of the story from independent.co.uk.

Intolerance in Turkey

Turkey’s only gay rights group was closed by a court because, according to the prosecuter, advocating for gay rights was an affront to the public morality. The group, LambdaIstanbul, plans to appeal and their website is currently still operational. Link to Story >>