Turkish police detain at least 15 people for participating in banned pride parade

(Patria) - Turkish police today detained at least 15 people in Istanbul for participating in a banned LGBT pride parade when they arrived at the scene during street searches, after participants had already dispersed, a witness told Reuters.

Police declined to comment on the incident.

The office of the Governor of Istanbul province announced earlier today that the pride parade would not be allowed.

Turkish police blocked the center of Istanbul to prevent the parade from taking place, closing metro stations and blocking traffic on main streets.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AK), with Islamic roots, has toughened its rhetoric against the LGBT community over the past decade and has banned pride marches since 2015, citing "security reasons".

The Istanbul Governor's Office declared organizations calling for the pride parade illegal.

Following the ban, LGBT groups gathered in another part of Istanbul, on the Asian side, and a group representative read a statement that said, "we never tire of deceiving the police and forcing them to deal with us".

"You have closed all streets and squares, you have stopped the life of an entire city, but you have forgotten that we will break through stone and find each other if necessary," they said.

Police officers searched the streets looking for demonstrators and detained at least 15 people, a Reuters witness said.