Turkish police detained more than 200 participants at an LGBTQ Pride march in Istanbul on Sunday, organizers said.

Local authorities in Istanbul's Beyoglu district banned Pride Week events between June 20-26, saying that they could lead to public unrest. The event has been officially banned every year since 2015, but crowd still gather near the city's Taksim Square to mark the end of the Pride Month.

What happened at the march?

Authorities cordoned off large parts of the city's central Cihangir neighborhood ahead of the march. Public transportation in the area was also shut down.

Local residents banged pots and pans from their windows and balconies in a show of support for marchers.

According to the MLSA lawyers' association, Agence France-Press photographer Bülent Kilinc was among those detained.

Journalists' union DISK Basin-Is said "many" participants in the march were beaten by police.

LGBTQ activist organization Kaos GL published a video from the event on Twitter. 

"We do not give up, we are not afraid! We will continue our activities in safe places and online," pride week organizers said.

Pride events banned

Turkey's first pride march was held in 2003, the year after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's conservative AKP party came to power. Istanbul authorities banned the event more than ten years later.

The Turkish government has adopted a harsh approach to pride events, and police have made large numbers of arrests and have used tear gas and plastic pellets.

Demonstrations by nationalists and Islamists have also threatened participants.

sdi/dj (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)