Open letter of five observer constituencies on the coordinated crackdown of LGBTI+ civil society just ahead of the opening of COP31 in Türkiye

OPEN LETTER TO EXPRESS GRAVE CONCERNS REGARDING THE CRACKDOWN ON LGBTI+ CIVIL SOCIETY IN TÜRKIYE AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE INTEGRITY AND INCLUSIVITY OF COP31

Dear Mr. Murat Kurum – The COP31 President-Designate, Republic of Türkiye Dear Mr Chris Bowen – COP31 President of Negotiations, the Government of Australia
Dear Mr Simon Stiell – UNFCCC Executive Secretary

The Women and Gender Constituency (WGC), the Environmental NGO Demand Climate Justice (ENGO DCJ), the Environmental NGO Climate Action Network (ENGO CAN), the Indigenous Peoples Organizations Constituency (IPO), and Children and Youth NGOs (YOUNGO) have written to all of you on 19th September to express our grave concern regarding the coordinated raids, detentions, and digital restrictions carried out against civil society organizations and activists across Türkiye since 12 September 2026. As documented by LGBTI groups in Türkiye and echoed in a joint statement issued by 120 women’s rights and feminist organisations in Türkiye, this operation, publicly named “My Family is Safe,” has resulted in detention orders against at least 116 human rights defenders, the targeting of legally mandated association leadership structures, the seizure of institutional records, and the framing of lawful international funding as evidence of criminal conspiracy.

With the opening of COP31 five NGO observer constituencies, namely the Women and Gender Constituency (WGC), the Environmental NGO Demand Climate Justice (ENGO DCJ), the Environmental NGO Climate Action Network (ENGO CAN), the Indigenous Peoples Organizations Constituency (IPO), Children and Youth NGOs (YOUNGO) and Trade Union NGOs (TUNGO) are unifying to say the verbal guarantees received have not been enough and we expect immediate action.

As the incoming Presidency, Türkiye as the host of COP31 assumes a formal responsibility to protect and enable the free, safe, and full participation of civil society observers, a principle foundational to the legitimacy of the UNFCCC process itself. A COP hosted amid the mass detention of human rights defenders and the criminalisation of civic association raises direct and unavoidable questions about the safety and freedom of feminist, LGBTI+, and environmental civil society to engage meaningfully in the negotiations to come.

While no Foreign Agent Law is currently proposed in Türkiye, we recognise this pattern. We have seen it across the UN ECE region where similar rhetoric, such as foreign funding cast as suspicious, civil society branded as agents of moral corruption, preceded and later hardened into formal Foreign Agent Laws: LGBTI+ organisations are first targeted, followed by feminist, human rights, and environmental organisations. Although Türkiye frequently champions climate justice in international arenas, domestic narratives have at times framed environmental activism through lenses of external influence or foreign agendas. This illustrates an existing tension between international commitments and domestic political discourse that may affect civic space for environmental advocacy.

We therefore urge the Presidency to not only publicly and unambiguously guarantee safety of all participants and delegates at COP31 regardless of their identities, in government, observers, and other stakeholder delegations. But also to

1. Call for the immediate release of all persons regardless of their identities detained solely in connection with their legitimate human rights and association activities.
2. Ensure full and meaningful participation of LGBTI+, feminist, and environmental defenders from Türkiye at COP31, which means to uphold their human rights as enshrined under international law.
3. Provide a formal, public response to this open letter reaffirming Türkiye’s obligations as COP31 Presidency and host, alongside Australia’s obligations as President of Negotiations to uphold the rights to freedom of association, expression, and peaceful assembly under international human rights and humanitarian law;
4. Commit that lawful international funding of civil society organisations, a normal and necessary feature of international cooperation, including with UNFCCC observer constituencies, will not be treated as inherently suspect in the lead-up to, during or after COP31.

The credibility of COP31 as an inclusive, legitimate multilateral process depends on the answer Türkiye and Australia give now. We ask for this matter to be treated with the urgency it demands, and we remain ready to engage directly with the Presidency on these concerns.

Respectfully,
Women and Gender Constituency (WGC)
Environmental NGO Demand Climate Justice (ENGO DCJ)
Environmental NGO Climate Action Network (ENGO CAN)
Indigenous Peoples Organizations Constituency (IPO)
Children and Youth NGOs (YOUNGO)
Trade Union NGOs (TUNGO)

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Signatories are collected from organisations, networks, movements, Peoples and individuals.