January 30 - Turkish Leader Hails Party Meeting as Hologram

Move over Princess Leia, the hologram message is crossing over from the realm of science fiction into politics.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was unable to attend a party meeting in the city of Izmir on Sunday in person, so he had a towering hologram of himself beamed into the party chambers instead, according to Turkish newspaper Hurriyet.

As the Erdogan hologram glimmered and beamed into full view, the crowd roared as the likeness began to address the audience.

“We are going to elections in the shadow of attacks prepared by treasonous networks. I urge all my mayoral candidates to not waste any of their time,” Erdogan said, according to Hurriyet.

The hologram was recorded in front of a green screen before being beamed into the party meeting. Erdogan is currently mired in a broad corruption scandal that has seen him purge dozens of high-ranking police officials and jurists.

As futuristic as it may seem, Erdogan isn’t the first to make use of holograms in politics. In 2012, Indian politician Narendra Modi used a hologram as part of a campaign, broadcasting 26 holograms of himself onto stages across the Indian state of Gujarat as he sought re-election.