This written declaration does not reflect the position of the Assembly; only of those members that have signed it. It will not be considered further by the Assembly.
According to the US State Department 2010 Human Rights Report
on Turkey,
“Openly gay men were not allowed to perform military service
for “health reasons” due to their sexual orientation; those requesting
military exemption for reasons of sexual orientation had to undergo
an invasive burden of proof (…). LGBT groups complained that gay
men were required to show photos of themselves in overtly sexual
positions and to undergo thorough medical evaluations to prove their
homosexuality to military officials.”
A report by Amnesty International (June 2011), and a BBC World
Service documentary, (March 2012), have raised similar concerns.
In 1999 the European Court of Human Rights ruled in Smith & Grady v. the United Kingdom that exclusion
of lesbians and gay men from service in the armed forces was a violation
of the European Convention on Human Rights.
We call upon the Turkish authorities to cease this degrading
treatment of gay men, and to enable them to serve in the armed forces
once the training and disciplinary measures have been taken to ensure
that they can serve without danger of violence and discrimination.
