Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday he did not “recognise LGBT” and vowed to combat “perverse” trends which he said aimed to destroy the institution of family in the country. Turkey’s government, led by Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party, has toughened its stance on LGBTQ freedoms in recent months, particularly while campaigning for this year’s elections in May. Homosexuality is not a crime in Turkey, but hostility to it is widespread, and police crackdowns on Pride parades have become tougher over the years. Speaking at an AK Party congress in Ankara, Erdogan, who has frequently labeled members of the LGBTQ community as “deviants”, said neither his party, nor their nationalist MHP allies, recognised the LGBTQ community.