Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed on Thursday his political opponents for being supporters of LGBT that are opposed to the values of a strong Turkish nation.

“Family is sacred to us. A strong family means a strong nation. No matter what they do, God is enough for us," Erdogan said during a presidential campaign rally in Giresun city, one week ahead of the elections.

“We know that Mr. Kemal [Kilicdaroglu] is an LGBT person,” he said. “CHP is LGBT, IYI party is LGBT, HDP is LGBT,” he continued, referring to the six-party opposition National Alliance bloc.

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“As the People’s Alliance, we are against this,” he announced.

Kilicdaroglu earlier vowed in his electoral campaign that he will reinstate the Istanbul Convention if elected.

In 2011, the European Union and 45 other countries agreed in the convention to strengthen legal penalties for violence against women. However, the EU finally ratified the agreement in February 2023.

In 2021, Turkey withdrew from the convention, accusing it of being “hijacked by a group of people attempting to normalize homosexuality,” referring to the treaty's listing of transgender women; biological males that transitioned to women.

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“They are trying to…ungender the whole of our society under the name of LGBT,” Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said of Kilicdaroglu and his allies in February.

“If Kilicdaroglu wants to ungender himself and his colleagues, let him do so,” he continued. “Family is important for us, woman is important for us, man is important for us.”

The minister described back in April the LGBT ideology as a “religion,” that is “completely under the control of America and Europe.”

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