'They can't silence us': the trans woman running for election in Istanbul, and more from around the world

Turkey's Workers Party (TIP) parliamentary candidate Zeynep Esmeray Ozadikti poses in her living room in Istanbul, Turkey, 20 April 2023. Born in 1972, Zeynep Esmeray Ozadikti left her home in Kars in northeastern Turkey for Istanbul at the age of 15 after being ostracized by her family because of her gender identity. As a member of the Kurdish community, she suffered at the hands of Turkey’s military regime that came to power after a coup d’etat in the early 1980s, a period defined by a rise in Turkish nationalism. Facing discrimination for her ethnicity and especially her trans identity, she was forced to scrape a living on the streets, with sex work being one of the only ways for her to make money. In the 1990s, she says she was repeatedly detained and tortured for her activism with LGBTQ+ rights groups. Later, she studied theatre, staging her first play in 2007, before producing two more in 2010 and 2014. In 2013, her political career began as she joined the left-wing People's Democratic Party (HDP), before becoming a member of the Workers' Party of Turkey (TIP) in 2019, the party she is representing in the upcoming elections in Istanbul on May 14. Her opponent in that race, interior minister Süleyman Soylu of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) has been a vocal critic of LGBTQ+ rights. “The rulers of the country are using homophobia as an ideology,” Esmeray says. “I've been fighting these types since my years as a sex worker. I will fight them in the National Assembly. We will have immunity and they will not be able to silence us. Once I have that authority, they will no longer be able to ignore us. I am not alone, there are millions of people like me. This is a way of life. Just as heterosexuality always exists, other sexual identities also exist.” EPA-EFE/SEDAT SUNA

Turkey's Workers Party (TIP) parliamentary candidate Zeynep Esmeray Ozadikti (C) hands out a brochure after the opening ceremony of TIP's election office in the background picture of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Besiktas district, in Istanbul, Turkey, 15 April 2023.
EPA-EFE/SEDAT SUNA

Transgender Zeynep Esmeray Ozadikti (R) walks on the stage with the other candidates and greets their supporters with the LGBT+ flag after Turkey's Workers Party (TIP) MP candidate introductory ceremony at the Istanbul Lutfi Kirdar Congress Center in Istanbul, Turkey, 09 April 2023.
EPA-EFE/SEDAT SUNA

A woman blows soap bubbles at a park in Kyiv, Ukraine, 03 May 2023. Russian troops entered Ukrainian territory in February 2022, starting a conflict that has provoked destruction and a humanitarian crisis. EPA-EFE/OLEG PETRASYUK

A woman crosses over barbed wire at a park in Kyiv, Ukraine, 03 May 2023. EPA-EFE/OLEG PETRASYUK

The flag of the President of Russia flatters above his residence in the Moscow Kremlin on the Red Square in Moscow, Russia, 03 May 2023. According to the Russian Presidential Press Service, two unmanned aerial vehicles targeted the Kremlin on the night of 02 May. The Kremlin accused Kyiv of carrying the drone strike against the residence of the Russian president, adding that the drones were disabled and crashed in the Kremlin grounds without causing any casualties or damage. The Kremlin described the action as a 'planned terrorist attack and an assassination attempt targeting the President', noting that the President was not injured. EPA-EFE/YURI KOCHETKOV

A 'No Drone Zone' sign is placed in front of the Red Square in Moscow, Russia, 03 May 2023. EPA-EFE/YURI KOCHETKOV

A nurse with the Fulton County police SWAT team works at the scene of a shooting near a medical facility on May 3, 2023, in Atlanta, Georgia. Police say four people were injured and one killed in the shooting and the suspect is still at large. (Photo by Megan Varner/Getty Images)

People leave flowers and light candles for the victims in front of the 'Vladislav Ribnikar elementary school in Belgrade, Serbia, 04 May 2023. A teenage student fatally shot seven girls, one boy and a security guard using two handguns, which he had taken from his father. Six children and a teacher were also injured in the attack. EPA-EFE/ANDREJ CUKIC

Palestinians evacuate a wounded man during an Israeli raid, in the old city of Nablus, 04 May 2023. According to the Israeli military, Israeli troops killed two Palestinians and a third man who helped them hide on 04 May for allegedly carrying out an attack in April that killed a British-Israeli mother and her two daughters. The Palestinian Authority Health Ministry confirmed the death of three people during the early raid in Nablus. EPA-EFE/ALAA BADARNEH

Smoke rises from the house where Israeli forces killed three Palestinians in an early raid, in the old city of Nablus, 04 May 2023. EPA-EFE/ALAA BADARNEH

Palestinian workers attend a protest supporting their rights in Gaza City, 04 May 2023. EPA-EFE/MOHAMMED SABER

Israeli protesters during a rally against the justice system reform in Tel Aviv, Israel, 04 May 2023. Mass protests continue across Israel as people oppose the Israeli government’s plan to reform the justice system and limit the power of the Israeli Supreme Court. EPA-EFE/ATEF SAFADI

Members of the Taliban patrol as people participate in leisure activities at Chaman Huzuri Park, in Kabul, Afghanistan, 03 May 2023. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has reported that Afghanistan's economy is expected to shrink due to a significant decrease in foreign aid of 30%. This decrease in aid of approximately $3.7 billion in 2022 could potentially lead to the total collapse of the Afghan economy. To prevent this, there must be a sustained inflow of foreign aid, the UNDP said. EPA-EFE/SAMIULLAH POPAL

People participate in leisure activities at Chaman Huzuri Park, in Kabul, Afghanistan, 03 May 2023. EPA-EFE/SAMIULLAH POPAL

People participate in leisure activities at Chaman Huzuri Park, in Kabul, Afghanistan, 03 May 2023. EPA-EFE/SAMIULLAH POPAL

Green Acres Mini Golf in Midland, Texas, US, on Thursday, April 27, 2023. Midland's inability or refusal to fund basic infrastructure upgrades is dinging worker retention rates, imperiling Texas' ability to deliver the energy needed to fuel the global economy. Photographer: Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Royal fans wait on the coronation procession route on The Mall in London, Britain, 03 May 2023. Britain's King Charles III's Coronation occurs at Westminster Abbey in London on 06 May 2023. EPA-EFE/MARTIN DIVISEK

A royal fan sleeps on the ground as he waits on the coronation procession route on The Mall in London, Britain, 03 May 2023. EPA-EFE/MARTIN DIVISEK

Guests attend the Garden Party at Buckingham Palace to celebrate the forthcoming coronation at Buckingham Palace on May 3, 2023, in London, England. (Photo by Jonathan Brady - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Maldivian soldiers try on bearskin hats belonging to British Guardsmen after a military parade for representatives of the Commonwealth taking part in the Coronation of King Charles III at Army Training Centre Pirbright on May 4, 2023, in Pirbright, England. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

A tie pilot pets a dog during Star Wars Day on May 4, 2023, in Hong Kong, China. Star Wars Day is an informal commemorative day observed annually on May 4 to celebrate the Star Wars media franchise. (Photo by Keith Tsuji/Getty Images)

Star Wars fans chant slogans inside Taipei Performing Arts Center during the Star Wars Day celebration in Taipei, Taiwan, 04 May 2023. EPA-EFE/RITCHIE B. TONGO

Members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) demonstrate outside of the Netflix Inc. offices in Los Angeles, California, USA, 03 May 2023. Writers Guild of America members went out on strike after the deadline for a newly ratified contract passed on 01 May, as agreements between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and the WGA were not reached on better wages and working conditions for writers. EPA-EFE/CAROLINE BREHMAN

In this aerial, homes are surrounded by floodwater from the Mississippi River on May 03, 2023, in Albany, Illinois. According to the National Weather Service, the Mississippi River in the area is expected to remain at major flood stage into next week. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Mailboxes are surrounded by floodwater from the Mississippi River on May 03, 2023, in Albany, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) DM/ML