Speaking at the AK Party Congress in Ankara, Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan said that neither his party nor the nationalist MHP allies recognize LGBTQ+. He has also vowed to combat what he calls a "perverse trend" which he said aimed to destroy the institution of family in the country. Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party have toughened their stance on LGBTQ+ freedoms in recent months, particularly while campaigning for this year’s elections in May. Homosexuality is not a crime in Turkey, but hostility to it is widespread, and police crackdowns on Pride parades have become tougher over the years. His homophobia became more evident, when after the United Nations General Assembly in New York last month, he complained about the use of what he described as “LGBT colors” at the U.N. But in fact, those colors represent the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN. #Queer Up The World View