Skirted male protester raises eyebrows in Turkey

ADANA

The masked man (L-rear), around 20 years of age, was spotted wearing a long, purple skirt and red gloves during protests in the southern province of Adana on Oct. 9.

A male protester has stirred debate in Turkey, after being photographed wearing a skirt during the recent clashes across the country in which more than 30 people were killed.

The masked man, around 20 years of age, was spotted wearing a long, purple skirt and red gloves during protests in the southern province of Adana on Oct. 9.

After hundreds of club-swinging demonstrators in Adana’s Seyhan and Yüreğir districts pelted the police with stones, security forces intervened to remove the barricades and the cross-dressing protester was seen running away, leaving his skirt behind.

The scene raised eyebrows on Turkish social media on Oct. 10, with the motives and identity of the mystery protester coming into questioned. One fiercely pro-government Islamist newspaper, Yeni Akit, claimed that the man was a supporter of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).