University student threatened with horrifying ISIS execution for wanting to teach about LGBT+ rights

When Nazli Ikra Öztay, a political sciences student at Ankara University, Turkey, opened up Whastapp on her mobile, she was plunged into paranoia.

All she wanted to do was teach a class on LGBT+ rights. Yet, someone threatened to execute her by hurling her off a tall building – a method commonly used by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant group against queer people.

Graphic, perturbing photographs of queer people being hurled off Syrian rooftops have been released by the group’s propaganda agency in the past, appearing to confirm reports by ISIS-controlled region’s law enforcement claims.

ISIS leaders have said that if those captured engaging in same-sex affairs do not die upon impact, they are stoned to death. Automatic execution is one of the main punishments pivoted towards homosexuality, according to the group.

It comes as Turkey’s president, Recep Erdoğan, as well as lawmakers, religious leaders and heads of major humanitarian agencies, launch scathing attacks against queer folks.

Turkish student threatened with being executed just for wanting to teach LGBT+ rights.

Birgün reported that Öztay announced a lecture – “LGBTI+ rights struggle on campus” – on Whatsapp to other Ankara students, according to screenshots shared by the university’s women’s rights group, Mülkiye Women’s Solidarity.

“I was confronted with a private message saying, ‘Delete that immoral message’,” she told the newspaper.

“‘Delete that message and do not again make the [Whatsapp] group a grounds for your depravity again’,” the message to Öztay said.

“‘We are guarding the language, religion, morality, cleanliness and security of these lands.

“‘Those who think like me have collectively conquered them. We are the representatives of the clean morality of these lands for a thousand years

“‘We’ll never get used to it, and we’ll throw you off tall buildings’.”

Öztay added that the same barbed message was sent to a friend of hers, too. After some investigation, she said, Öztay found that the text was sent from a Political Sciences student at the university who has ties to jihadist networks.

Mülkiye Women’s Solidarity later issued a statement on the exchange, denouncing the anti-LGBT messenger.

“We remind you again, none of our female friends, the subject of the LGBTI + struggle or our rights defender friend are alone,” members wrote in the Twitter thread Friday (July 10).

“We are side by side and strong together against hate language and bullying!”

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