Turkish Prime Minister's Campaign Logo Looks a Lot Like Obama's

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Image: Mashable composite Murat Kaynak/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images; Barack Obama presidential primary campaign, 2008

By Brian Ries2014-07-01 14:45:27 UTC

Turkey’s ruling party has nominated a familiar man to run in the country's first directly elected presidential race — and his campaign looks familiar, too.

When the Justice and Development Party announced Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as its pick for candidate in the August election, it also unveiled the official campaign logo, and we can't help but feel like we've seen it before.

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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan gestures as he speaks during a ceremony in front of members of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to announce that he will stand in August's presidential elections on July 1, 2014 in Ankara.

Image: ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images

The logo — a rising sun, sweeping lines on the horizon — bears a striking similarity to President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign logo.

Created by a Chicago design firm, Obama's logo was inspired by the “O” in his name and “the idea of a rising sun and a new day,” a strategist who worked on the design explained. “The sun rising over the horizon intended to evoked a new sense of hope.”

Erdogan’s logo, meanwhile, is meant to convey a “light at the end of the tunnel,” according to party officials. The sunrise is meant to be emblematic of the birth of a “new Turkey,” as it represents new hopes and goals for the country.

The road that zig-zags towards it is meant to symbolize life. Twists and turns, struggles, dedication and commitment are all meant to be themes conveyed by the new logo, according to Turkish website netgazete.

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Topics: Politics, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, turkey, US & World, World