He chose a bad moment, a bad place and a bad leader: there is already another rooster in the corral. The Russian artist was shot by the butt this Saturday in the center of Istanbul, when he tried to pay tribute to its president, Vladimir Putin, exhibiting four great portraits of his. The Turkish Police, who strongly guard the area to keep the flow of tourists safe from terrorist attacks and dissident expressions, broke up in a few minutes with their artistic pretensions.

Alexander Donskoy barely had time to deploy his work . Putin is Russia? on Istiklal Street, one of the commercial arteries of the metropolis. With her, the artist told Reuters, "I wanted to draw attention to how Putin is considered in Russia: as a superhero. So I wrote in the portraits ' Putin is a superhero ." In the images of its installation, the face of the Russian leader can be seen in the oil paintings, looking at the infinite. Messianic pose for who leads the Russians for almost two decades.

This artistic breakdown has several reasons. The agents withdrew the portraits claiming that Donskoy lacked the mandatory permission to exhibit his work on the street. A common excuse to get rid of street musicians who tend to reap applause on the most famous avenue in the European district of Beyoglu, which houses precisely the Russian diplomatic legation in the city.

"Currently, we have an exaltation of relations with Turkey," the artist insists to Reuters. "So I show it here, in central Turkey, on its main street, where the Russian embassy is located, that Putin is Russia." Yes but no. The traditionally cordial ties between Moscow and Ankara - except for the crisis over the Turkish demolition of a Russian aircraft in 2015 - have been strained for a month, when the official offensive on the Idlib province intensified. Thirteen Turkish soldiers guarding opposition territory have recently died in attacks by Damascus forces.

Turkey has demanded that Russia protect its protégé, Syrian President Bashar Asad . Their bombings against the civilian population are allowing the official forces to move quickly, at the cost of causing almost a million displaced people that Turkey does not want to let into its soil. The risk of another humanitarian crisis has led Turkish President Erdogan to demand a stop to the offensive. However, bilateral talks to reach a ceasefire are not bearing fruit.

Here is another reason: Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Compared by many with Vladimir Putin himself for the authoritarian gestures they share and for the love of the propaganda rimbombancia apart. The portrait of the Islamist nationalist leader often accompanies during meetings that of the founder of the Turkish Republic, Atatürk, sending a unique message . Too many leaders for the congested Istiklal, just when both politicians don't get along in the best way.

Donskoy says that his goal was to provoke emotions among the walkers and observe his reactions , and that his installation was not limited to Istanbul, as he intended to take it as far as the United States. "There will be more in the countries of Western democracy. I will show that the Russian people consider the sanctions against Putin as if they were sanctions against themselves," he emphasizes. " So I am a peace ambassador ."

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