Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the current President of Turkey, took the opportunity to denigrate the LGBTQI community of Turkey whilst defending similarly homophobic remarks made by the head of the Turkish Red Crescent at the end of June.Erdogan’s speech was delivered to the majority-Muslim nation after he held a meeting with his cabinet and echoed the rhetoric of various religious conservatives.The Turkish president claimed that the LGBTQI people of his country had been “sneaking up on our national and spiritual values again” and said that queer folks “throughout human history” have been “trying to poison young people.”“I invite all members of my nation to be careful and take a stand against those who exhibit all kinds of heresy that our Lord has.