Turkish president and his wife had iftar with Bülent Ersoy hours after Istanbul riot police used teargas to break up protest

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, had a Ramadan dinner with Turkey’s best-known transgender celebrity hours after Istanbul riot police broke up an LGBT rally.

The conservative president and his wife, Emine Erdoğan, shared iftar at the end of the Muslim fasting day on Sunday with a group of artists including actor Bülent Ersoy.

Photographs distributed by Erdoğan’s office show the couple sharing a meal with “The Diva”, as Ersoy is known, at the presidential residence in the Istanbul suburb of Tarabya.

Ersoy, 64, underwent sex reassignment surgery in London in the 1980s. She became a celebrity but also faced verbal and physical attacks at home.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Turkish riot police officers fire rubber bullets at demonstrators during an LGBT rally on Istiklal Avenue, Istanbul. Photograph: Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty

Earlier on Sunday, Istanbul riot police fired rubber bullets and teargas to prevent a trans pride event taking place during Ramadan.

Several hundred riot police surrounded the main Taksim Square, where demonstrations have been banned since anti-government rallies in 2013, to stop the protest from taking place.

The demonstrators unfurled a rainbow flag, a symbol of the LGBT community, and tried to read out a statement but were prevented from doing so by the police.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Several hundred police officers disperse protesters in Istanbul’s main Taksim Square, where demonstrations have been banned since 2013. Photograph: Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty

Istanbul authorities said on Friday they had banned the annual parade on 26 June to safeguard security and public order after a string of bombings across Turkey over the past year, some of which have been blamed on Islamic State; others claimed by Kurdish militants.

Critics accuse Erdoğan of leading a creeping Islamisation since he came to power as prime minister in 2003.

He has repeatedly angered activists with his conservative comments on sex and family planning, but has generally steered clear of commenting publicly on gay issues.