Shaquille O’Neal Plays Basketball with Turkish Strongman Erdogan

Turkish Islamist strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan published photos on his social media accounts on Tuesday appearing to play basketball with retired NBA star and commentator Shaquille O’Neal in Istanbul.

Erdogan, one of the world’s most vocally pro-Hamas heads of state with a long track record of repressing political dissidents, captioned his photos with only a series of basketball emojis. O’Neal appeared in workout gear, as did the president, signing basketballs on a court.

While O’Neal has appeared in Turkey in the past, most recently for a DJ gig as his alter ego “DJ Diesel,” those appearances did not appear to be political endorsements of Erdogan and his Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP). O’Neal’s emergence in the country follows increasingly violent actions by