Turkish police used pepper spray and tear gas to disperse the LGBTQ + pride procession against the crowd.
According to UniKuir activists, at least 36 people were detained in the capital Ankara after authorities banned such marches for security reasons.
They were part of a group of 50 people marching towards the main park to commemorate the end of Pride Month with a rainbow flag.
Reuters journalists witnessed police spraying activists with pepper spray, handcuffing them, and dragging them across the ground before getting them on the bus.
A small group of Muslims who see the LGBTQ + community as a threat held an opposition demonstration near the park.
Homosexuality is legal in Turkey, but official opposition has increased in recent years.
The transcontinental country is one of the few Muslim-dominated countries to allow pride marches, and was first held in 2003.
Last year, President Erdogan praised the youth group for his AK party, who was responsible for the "brilliant history of this country" and was not an "LGBTQ + youth."
A violent crackdown in the Turkish capital occurs a week after officers disband their annual pride procession in Istanbul.
More than 300 participants were detained and journalists who reported the event were also arrested. Most were released after the night of detention.
According to Human Rights Watch, the number of arrests has been the last seven Istanbul Pride marches. It was three times the total. ..
Marching with more than 100,000 participants at the peak of 2014 has been banned since 2015 .
'The Turkish government's crackdown on Istanbul Pride is brutal and up-to-date. "A campaign against LGBTQ + rights activities and freedom of expression," said Kyle Knight, senior LGBTQ + rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.
'Turkish authorities are responsible for protecting LGBTQ + people and journalists alike, but instead the authorities are taking aggressive and cruel actions. '
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