Posters threatening gays with death appear in Turkish capital

By: American Decency Staff

A Turkish Islamist group has pinned posters to walls and posts in the capital Ankara threatening gays with death, adding to concerns over growing intolerance against homosexuals in the country, an AFP correspondent said Tuesday.

The appearance of the posters in Ankara comes just over a week after Turkish police prevented Istanbul's annual gay pride march – a successful tradition in the last years – from going ahead and used water cannon against activists who showed defiance.

"Should those who practice the foul labor and adhere to the practice of the people of Lot be killed?" said the posters that appeared in the Turkish capital overnight.

The prophet Lot, who features in the Old Testament and the Koran, is decried by many Muslims for failing to halt the decline of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which was blamed on the sexual preferences of their inhabitants.

A hitherto low-key Islamist group called the Young Islamic Defenseclaimed responsibility for the poster campaign through a Twitter account @islamimudafaa, saying it was trying to "respond to the immoral actions" of lesbians, gays and bisexuals.

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