ERA – LGBTI Equal Rights Association for Western Balkans and Turkey in close part

This report is a summary of developments in the countries of the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia) and Turkey from January until December 2018. 

ERA – LGBTI Equal Rights Association for Western Balkans and Turkey in close part

In the present report, the United Nations Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based

ERA’s Annual General Assembly is the biggest LGBTI event organized in the region since 2015. The conference is a lobby, advocacy, capacity building and visibility event which brings together more than 160 participants from across the region, Europe and beyond. LGBTI activists, state officials (governments, Parliaments, equality bodies etc.), donors, researchers, journalists, diplomatic community, representatives of international organizations and members of the local community attend the event.  

Republic of Turkey joined Council of Europe on 9 August 1949 and is one of the oldest members. The Council of Europe has a well-established large-scale country-specific co-operation in Turkey mainly in the field of rule of law and fundamental freedoms. However, the country has been facing some major challenges in the past years, especially in the field of human rights and freedoms, including the overall protection of the rights of LGBTI persons.

The EU accession process has been, and continues to be, a driving force for change in the recognition of the human rights of LGBTI people throughout the region not only through the criteria that countries have to meet, but through the annual Enlargement Reports.