Iranian Gaymen Refugees

Since then, as the streets of the Iranian wave of protests after the presidential elections, the dissidents are trying to flee the country in nearby Turkey. Among those who are faced with pressure from the Iranian government - students, journalists, human rights activists, artists and gays.

Farhad Khaliligan 1 (left) and Hamid Safari lie on the couch under a blanket in a cold damp basement with his dog named Pappy. Khaliligan - gay refugee from Iran who recently fled to Turkey, said that about 400 gays and lesbians gathered in the streets to protest, resulting in conflicts began with the local population. (Andrea Bruce)

2 25-year-old Farzan Taimur (left) and 26-year-old Farhad Khaliligan wash dishes in the basement of an apartment house in Turkey, in which five gay Iranian refugees have found refuge. In Iran, homosexuality is punishable by death. (Andrea Bruce)

3 Farhad Khaliligan trims eyebrows. He said that Iran is the only way gay can demonstrate their opposition to the government's treatment of sexual minorities. (Andrea Bruce)

4 Farzan Taimur (left) and Farhad Khaliligan fled Iran after the presidential elections. They are now living as refugees in Isparta, Turkey. (Andrea Bruce)

5 Farzan Taimur crying, listening to the conversation other with their mutual friends from Iran. Taimur fled from Iran, because from thence the government has become too aggressive in its "anti-gay" policies. (Andrea Bruce)

6 Photos partner Farzana Taimur laid on the couch in the basement of a house in Isparta."Ahmadinejad once said that Iran does not have gays, - said one of the refugees. - I think that now he is trying to bring those words to life. " (Andrea Bruce)

7 After escaping from the threats of Iran, gays -bezhentsy now live here in just such basements and abandoned buildings in Turkey. The Iranian government has turned its wrath against gays in the campaign against the students, journalists and human rights activists.(Andrea Bruce)

8 34-year-old Hassan Yazdanpanah goes out Isparta to view ads " selling a puppy . " While in Turkey, and there is no law against homosexuality, most people have more conservative views. (Andrea Bruce)

9 Hamid Safari, not letting go of the only means of communication with friends from Iran - cell phone walks past a store in Isparta. He ignores the curious stares of the locals, buried in the phone, in which he looks or photos of protests in Iran, or listens to the songs of Madonna and Beyonce. (Andrea Bruce)

10 Gay from Iran often face physical and verbal abuse from the locals Isparta. (Andrea Bruce)

11 Hamid Safari (left) and Farzan Taimur talk about political statements from Iran in an internet cafe in Isparta. "Now we're stuck here, - says Safari. - But that does not mean that we live our life in vain. " (Andrea Bruce)

12 Iranian refugees in Isparta frequently visited sites for the latest political news in the home country or leave a personal ad. (Andrea Bruce)

13 Hassan Yazdanpanah smokes in his "apartment" in the basement of an apartment house in which they live four more gays from Iran. The Turkish government has sheltered them in Isparta. (Andrea Bruce)

14 31-year-old Hashem Vaziri - not gay, but he is also an Iranian refugee living in the Turkish city of Kayseri. As soon as he arrived in Turkey a few days slept on the street, it covered from the rain only awnings . Human rights activists say that the relative freedom in exile better than confinement in an Iranian prison. (Andrea Bruce)

15 42-year-old Ali Reza Naimian fled from Iran, since he is gay. He now lives in Kayseri as a refugee. Since then, in 2005 to come to power in Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the persecution of gays intensified. But before Iranian gays lived in constant fear. (Andrea Bruce)

16 Refugees from Iran pray before meals in Kayseri. Refugees tell us that it is better to live than to get into the hands of the security services, which have resorted to off-legal methods of punishment. (Andrea Bruce)

17 40-year-old Dawn Cavus - Iranian refugee living in Kayseri. More than 1,300 Iranian refugees crossed into Turkey since June last year. In the photo Cavus ponders whether to buy laminate flooring in a new home. (Andrea Bruce)

18 28-year-old Yas Nourakkan looks out the window, where the distance fireworks explode in Kayseri, where she lives on the rights of the Iranian refugee. The Iranian government has threatened her, as she confesses the Baha'i religion. (Andrea Bruce)

19 Many Iranian refugees Turkish government has put in Isparta. Some refugees are paying $ 1,500 or more for their freedom, while others risk being arrested and deported back to Iran. And every year, the refugees sit on trains and buses and sent to Turkey - one of the few countries where Iranians do not need a visa. (Andrea Bruce)