Istanbul gay bar shut down after protests: officials

Turkish authorities ordered an Istanbul gay bar to close over unspecified violations, the governor’s office said, following protests by Islamic groups against the bar's owner.

The office said in a statement on X Saturday that inspections carried out found that the venue, operating under the name "Tek Yon" in the Cihangir neighbourhood, had engaged in practices that did not comply with applicable regulations, without providing further details.

The closure comes after Islamist groups took to social media to protest a planned cruise ship tour aimed at LGBT travellers, claiming that the Turkish leg of the programme was being organised by Mustafa Dogan Yilmaz, the bar's owner.

The ship had been scheduled to dock in Istanbul on July 8.

Pro-government daily Yeni Safak reported on Saturday that inspections were ordered after an LGBT party on the Bosphorus was announced, resulting in the venue organising the event being sealed.

The newspaper also said the cruise ship carrying LGBT passengers as part of the special tour had decided to cancel its call at Istanbul.

Homosexuality is not illegal in Turkey, but the LGBT community is frequently targeted by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has blamed it for a declining birth rate.

Since 2015, the annual Pride march has been almost systematically banned and suppressed in the country.