İris Mozalar

İris Mozalar is a feminist, women’s rights, and LGBTI+ trans woman human rights defender based in Istanbul, Türkiye. Originally from Mersin, she began her advocacy during high school with the local grass roots organisation ‘Mersin 7 Renk LGBTI+ Association.’ As a Kurdish and Alevi woman, she approaches her work through an intersectional lens, recognising how ethnicity, belief, gender, and class compound with state and societal violence.

İris Mozalar is an urban and regional planner by profession and graduated from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in Istanbul, Mozalar. She bridges technical expertise with grass roots activism, and her work is shaped by feminist urbanism and design justice, focusing on participatory planning and collective decision-making. Since 2017, she has been a core member of the Istanbul LGBTI+ Pride Week Committee. In 2022, she was part of the team that re-established Istanbul Trans Pride Week, and in 2024, she co-founded the Bayram Sokak 12 Platform to support trans women facing persistent policing and displacement.

Currently, İris Mozalar serves as the Advocacy Program Coordinator at the Social Policy, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation Studies Association (SPoD). In this capacity, she monitors rights violations, conducts strategic advocacy, and builds community-led protection for LGBTI+ people. Since 2025, she has contributed to ÜniKuir’s international advocacy and was a founding member of the Peace for LGBTI+ Initiative. She is also an active member of the Chamber of City Planners (TMMOB/ŞPO), Istanbul Branch.

İris Mozalar has repeatedly been a target with judicial harassment in Türkiye through criminal investigations and prosecutions for her critical online posts and participation in peaceful assemblies, including the feminist and LGBTQI+ rallies and protests. She has been detained, held in pre-trial detention, and targeted with legal actions, including travel bans and lawsuits.

On 10 July 2024, the trans woman human rights defender was arrested during a police raid on her house. The raid and arrest appeared to be result of her social media posts criticising the racist attacks against the Syrian refugees in Kayseri. On 11 July, she was referred to the Istanbul 9th Courtship of Peace which ruled to hold her in pre-trial detention on charges of “incitement the public to hatred, hostility or degrading”. She was transferred to the Istanbul Bakırköy Women’s Prison but released the next day. At her second hearing on 26 February 2025, she was acquitted, and the decision was rendered final when the Court of Appeals dismissed the Public Prosecutor’s appeal.

In 2025, İris Mozalar was arrested twice during peaceful protests: On 8 March 2025, together with 111 other feminist activists during the Istanbul Feminist Night March, and on 29 June 2025 at the 23rd Istanbul LGBTQI+ Pride March, where 53 protesters were arrested during a police crackdown before the march began.

On 8 March 2025, 112 protesters were arrested by the police after the march ended. Everyone except İris Mozalar was released the following day. The trans woman human rights defender was referred to the İstanbul 3rd Courtship of Peace with a pre-trial detention request, accusing her of “Insulting the President” due to a slogan chanted during the march, and “violating the law on meetings and demonstrations.” The Court released her under the condition of a travel ban. The ongoing criminal case for violating the law on meetings and demonstrations started on 2 December 2025. The trial against her for insulting the president began on 19 January 2026 at the Istanbul 76th Criminal Court of First Instance. Her travel ban was lifted at this first hearing.

On 29 June 2025, İris Mozalar was arrested together with 52 LGBTI+ activists who had gathered for the 23rd Istanbul LGBTQI+ Pride March. They were arrested before the march began. İris Mozalar was taken to the Istanbul Police Headquarters where she was detained overnight along with other activists. The next day, she was conditionally released under a travel ban. Since 8 August 2025, the trans woman human rights defenders and her fellow activists are still on trial at the the Istanbul 51st Criminal Court of First Instance for violating the law on meetings and demonstrations.