Eiffel Tower lit in colors of Turkish flag

PARIS

A picture taken late on June 12, 2016 in Paris shows the Eiffel Tower lit in Turkey's colors, as seen from the fan zone, following the screening of the Euro 2016 football match between Germany and Ukraine. AFP photo

The Eiffel Tower was illuminated in the colors of the Turkish flag on June 12, after a social media contest on Twitter was overwhelmingly won by Turkish football fans.

France kicked off its Euro 2016 festivities on June 9 and announced that the Eiffel Tower will be illuminated in the flag colors of countries which gained the most support 10 minutes after the games end.

Turkish football fans posted tweets using the hashtag #TUR and made up 55.9 percent of the support tweets by fans of all teams. The Eiffel Tower was illuminated in red and white for 15 minutes and the image of the Turkish flag was also projected onto a balloon hanging on the tower. 

Turkish fans have been in first place since the start of the social media campaign, with 35 percent of the tweets. Britain was in second place with 12.9 percent and France third with 9.7 percent. 

Turkey suffered a 1-0 defeat against Croatia in the opening Group D game on June 12. 

Meanwhile, the Eiffel Tower will be lit up late on June 13 in the rainbow colors of the gay community in solidarity with the victims of the Orlando shootings, Paris city hall said.

“Paris is with Orlando. Tonight, the Eiffel Tower will be illuminated in LGBT colors in homage to the victims,” Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo tweeted.