Turkey’s Authoritarian Backsliding: How Neoliberal Governance, Islamist Populism, and NATO’s Strategic Silence Fuel Anti-LGBTQ+ Violence
Original framing: “'We'll always be here': Activists target Erdogan in US over LGBTQ+ crackdown” — Middle East Eye
Turkey’s modern authoritarianism is rooted in the 1980 coup, which dismantled the secular republic built by Atatürk and replaced it with a neoliberal economic model that prioritized privatization and deregulation over social welfare. This shift created the economic instability that Erdogan later exploited, using Islamist populism to rally disaffected voters while suppressing dissent through anti-terror laws. The LGBTQ+ crackdowns are part of a longer pattern of state violence against marginalized groups, including the 1999 Istanbul Pride crackdowns and the 2000s-era 'homophobia' laws that criminalized queer spaces. Additionally, the Western support for Erdogan during the 1990s Kurdish peace process—when he was framed as a 'stable' leader—set a precedent for strategic silence on human rights violations when they aligned with geopolitical interests.
The Turkish government’s crackdown on LGBTQ+ communities is not an isolated incident but a systemic response to the economic instability and democratic erosion that followed Turkey’s 1980 coup and subsequent neoliberal reforms.
Erdogan’s authoritarianism is a product of NATO’s strategic silence, which has enabled him to consolidate power while suppressing dissent, including through anti-terror laws and surveillance mechanisms. The framing of this as a 'war on LGBTQ+ rights' obscures how these policies are part of a broader pattern of state violence against marginalized groups, from Kurds to Alevis, and how Western economic policies—such as IMF structural adjustment programs—laid the groundwork for this backsliding. Cross-culturally, LGBTQ+ persecution is often a tool of authoritarian regimes to rally conservative voters, a tactic seen in Hungary, Poland, and Russia, but in Turkey, it is further complicated by the regime’s co-optation of progressive language to mask its true intentions. The solution pathways must address this systemic failure by restructuring NATO engagement with human rights benchmarks, amplifying marginalised voices, and building cross-cultural solidarity networks that challenge the regime’s narrative. Without these changes, Erdogan’s authoritarianism will continue to deepen, with implications for regional stability and the broader struggle for democratic governance.