initiative Schwule International, the Turkish queer activist organized their first Pride. The governor of Istanbul banned the event, but in doing so the discrimination that the LGBTQ+ community faces in Turkey was brought in their annual progress report written by the Commission for Human Rights of the European Parliament. Following the ban, queer activist founded LambdaIstanbul, and in 1994 it became part of the International Lesbian and Gay Association. At the same time, in Ankara KaosGL was founded and, together with LambdaIstanbul, they got support from Turkish non-governmental organizations. During the second half of the 1990s, the members of the LGBTQ+ community started differentiating among themselves, to feel adequately represented within the community. New separated associations were founded, such as LEGATO. However, they kept organizing joint actions, and from 1998 until 2004, they organized celebrations twice a year both in Istanbul and Ankara. In 1996, since the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements was taking place in Istanbul, the authorities carried out "cleansing operations" in central parts of Istanbul to free the streets from trans and other sex workers, street vendors, homeless people and drug users. The aim was to present Istanbul as a city inhabited by middle-class Turkish citizens. Despite the numerous protests, the police violence did not stop, but they managed to draw attention to the affected communities. The following year, in 1997, Lambda became the first Turkish LGBTQ+ NGO to be invited by the government to a government conference, namely the National Congress on AIDS. The same year, Hamam, a Turkish film featuring a gay romance, was released internationally and broadcast on state television. In 1999, the Left Party banned discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity within their party. Demet Demir became the first transgender candidate to run for political office in Turkish history. The 2000s Following Turkey's recognition as a candidate for joining the European Union, Ankara passed a series of "harmonization packages" to meet international expectations of improving the conditions for minorities and for civil society in general. The changes proposed had an immediate and positive effect on the queer movement: it grew considerably, gained more visibility, and it established solidarity with other social movements. In 2002, the parliamentary elections saw the Justice and Development Party (AKP) taking power for the first time. They declared their desire to guarantee the rights to all the population, including the members of the LGBTQ+ community.