Turkey detains students and supporters over LGBT flags

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish media are reporting that police have detained dozens of people who assembled outside a courthouse Friday in a show of solidarity with 12 students who were taken into custody for unfurling rainbow flags. The detentions came amid growing government intolerance toward the LGBT community in Turkey. The 12 students were detained Thursday after they displayed the flags of the LGBT rights movements during a protest at Istanbul’s prestigious Bogazici University. The students were denouncing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s appointment of a new rector and Erdogan’s decision to pull Turkey out of a European pact that aims to protect women against violence. Government officials have argued that the Istanbul Convention “normalizes homosexuality.”