France, Sept. 16 -- At least 31 people were arrested pending trial on Tuesday as part of the operation. They included five transgender women in Ankara and 26 people in the southern province of Mersin.

Police also detained at least 126 people protesting against the crackdown in Istanbul and Ankara. Outside Istanbul's Caglayan courthouse, officers surrounded demonstrators who were trying to make a statement demanding the release of gay rights activists.

Protesters carried banners reading "Being LGBTQI+ and organising is not a crime" before police intervened.

"We are going through a period where there is an attempt by the ruling power to portray LGBT+ people as the cause of every problem in this society," protester Banu Aslan, 36, told th...