ISTANBUL – Ilker Yazici – stage name Miss Putka – was in secondary school when he discovered he was gay. There he met LGBT advocacy groups and joined street protests in Turkey’s capital Ankara to defend LGBT rights, carrying rainbow flags. “At first I struggled with myself a lot,” he said. “You grow up in the Middle East. It is not easy. I felt like I was the only one, just like most LGBT people feel.” Ilker, now 23, never felt the need to hide, however and went on to celebrate who he is. Inspired by “RuPaul’s Drag Race” series on Netflix, he sees drag performance as an act of self-expression rather than just entertainment.