Twitter says Turkish minister's LGBT comments about protesters “hateful conduct”

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey’s interior minister on Tuesday condemned protesters at a top Istanbul university as “LGBT deviants” in a statement which Twitter deemed as hateful conduct.Students and teachers at Istanbul’s Bogazici University have held protests for the last month against the appointment of Melih Bulu as rector by President Tayyip Erdogan, which they said was undemocratic.On Monday, scuffles broke out between police and those protesting against the detention of four people after images were shared on social media of them laying a picture on the ground that mixed sacred Islamic imagery with symbols supporting LGBT issues.Police entered campus later in the day to disperse students who were planning an all-night vigil outside the rector’s building and detained 159 in total throughout the day, the governor’s office said.Istanbul police said 61 people were still detained and were giving statements on Tuesday.“Should we tolerate the LGBT deviants who insult the great Kaaba? Of course not. Should we tolerate the LGBT deviants who attempted to occupy the rector’s building? Of course not,” Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Twitter, repeating a phrase that sparked outrage amongst students and rights groups over the weekend.In a rare move, Twitter placed a warning on Soylu’s…
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