For Lambdaistanbul’s volunteers, the office was a place to work and for LGBTQ+ people to meet. The association says authorities sealed the Istanbul premises on 11 November.

Bianet reported that the Istanbul Governor’s Office acted on an allegation that Lambdaistanbul was running a clubhouse without permission. The association says there was no commercial activity in the office. Its work had been open and documented for years, it said, asking for the seal to be lifted.

The group started organising in 1993 and registered as an association in 2006. Its website was among those blocked under a separate court decision in September, according to ILGA-Europe.