Turkish Police Ban Gay Tourists from Aegean Resort

I S T A N B U L, Turkey, Sept. 7, 2000 -- Police in a Turkish resort banned agroup of gay tourists, many from the United States, from visitingthe ancient ruins of Ephesus, the tourists said today.

The 800 tourists, who also came from the Netherlands andBritain, arrived in the Aegean port of Kusadasi aboard the cruiseliner Olympic Voyager on Wednesday as part of a gay-orientedseven-day tour with stops in Egypt, Israel and Greece.

After authorizing most tourists to leave the port, local policeblocked the last two buses, apparently after realizing that thepassengers were all homosexuals, passengers and crew members said.

Police also stopped several buses at Selcuk, some two miles fromEphesus, and ordered them back to the cruise liner. A dozen otherbuses managed to enter the ancient city before the police blockadeand visit Ephesus, which draws thousands of tourists each year.

“All they said was ‘No pass,“‘ said Edward Timblyn of Houston,Texas, one of the passengers blocked by police. “I wasdisappointed, being stuck on the ship all day.”

The mayor of Kusadasi boarded the boat Wednesday evening toapologize for the incident, Timblyn said.

Although gay artists, singers and belly dancers are popular inTurkey, homosexuality is still taboo in the Muslim nation and gayscomplain that they often face discrimination, especially by police.Police in Selcuk said they were carrying out orders of the interiorminister, the daily Hurriyet reported Thursday. But Mithat Dumanli,a ministry spokesman, said he was not aware of any orders from theministry.

“We are not in a position to make judgments about peoples’sexual preferences,” Tourism Minister Erkan Mumcu was quoted assaying by the Anatolia news agency on Thursday. “They are inIstanbul now, and I think they will end their visit without meetingany more problems.”

Cody Hamilton, who was able to visit Ephesus, said he wasrelieved that authorities had apologized to his group.

“The fact that this kind of ignorance is not tolerated byhigher authorities is very important,” said Hamilton, from Durham,N.C.

The U.S. Embassy contacted Turkish officials and asked that theAmericans be allowed to visit the sites, a U.S. Embassy spokesmansaid. He spoke only on condition he not be identified by name anddid not elaborate.

Most of the passengers boarded buses to tour Istanbul onThursday, but Timblyn said some refused to disembark there. Theywere scheduled to leave for Greece on Thursday evening.