Pro-Erdogan LGBT individuals get organized in Turkey
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s presidential campaign got support from unlikely quarters when Islamic-leaning LGBT individuals raised the rainbow flag at a rally in Istanbul.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Aug. 3 rally in Istanbul marked a first for the country: LGBT supporters of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) waved the rainbow flag at the rally in a show of support for Erdogan’s presidential bid.
The group, using the Twitter handle Aklgbti, shared pictures from the rally with the following message: “The homosexuals stand with Tayyip Erdogan. We are at the rallies, we are everywhere — get used to it.” A member of the group tweeted, “I waved the rainbow flag in the front rows. Our prime minister must have seen it.”
It was a truly intriguing scene, which Western analysts of Turkey may find difficult to comprehend.
The rainbow flag was first seen fluttering next to AKP members at the inauguration ceremony of the Ankara-Istanbul high-speed train on July 25, which Erdogan attended.
