İZMİR - Threats of "don't get involved with politics in sports", which started with the slogans of "the government should resign", left its place to racism in the Bursaspor-Amedspor match played yesterday. Photographs of JİTEM members, racist slogans and bullets fired on the field are allowed in the stands, which are forbidden to the opposition.

 

In response to the destruction experienced in 10 provinces after the Maraş-centered earthquakes, the negligence and indifference of the government and public institutions, the cry of "Where is the state" from 10 provinces turned into slogans of "Government should resign" in football stands. However, right after these slogans, MHP Chairperson Devlet Bahçeli threatened the supporters, and then Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said: "We will deal with those who shouted the slogan of "Government should resign".

 

The slogan "Government should resign '', first started by Fenerbahçe fans in the Fenerbahçe-Konyaspor match, rose from Beşiktaş stands in Beşiktaş-Antalyaspor match despite all threats. In order to prevent this, the clubs were made to make statements "We stand behind the state" one after the other. Firstly, Kayserispor, which is under the management of AKP members, and then Konyaspor, which applauded the Ankara Station massacre of ISIS, Alanyaspor, which was the chairperson of Hasan Çavuşoğlu, brother of Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Çaykur Rizespor, the team of President Erdoğan's hometown, "copy and paste" statements published. Finally, all teams shared the published text signed by the Association of Clubs. Fenerbahce fans were banned from the show, and dozens of supporters who shouted the slogan "Government should resign" were banned from the show.

 

RACIST SLOGANS ARE FREE

 

While all these hide behind the rhetoric of "don't involve politics in sports", the racist rhetoric rising from the stands "was overlooked." The Bursaspor-Amedspor match played yesterday revealed how the understanding that silenced the opposition in the stadiums stood behind racism. Bursaspor fans, who came in front of the hotel where Amedspor team stayed before the match, shouted racist slogans for hours. Those who offered to play without spectators against opposing fans, on the other hand, allowed the match to be played with fans, knowing that racist attacks would occur.

 

BULLETS WERE SHOT INTO THE FIELD

 

Before the match played yesterday, the racism that started in the stands and then racism was done on field. Bursaspor players and fans attacked Amedspor players before the match even started. The one who initiated and directed this attack was St. Petersburg from Germany due to his racist and pro-war rhetoric was Bursaspor's Enver Cenk Şahin, who was fired from the Pauli team and then could not be taken any club. In addition to this attack, bullets, knives, water bottles and coins thrown from the stands during the match caused injuries to Amedspor players. Again at the end of the match, Amedspor people who went to the locker room were attacked by Bursaspor people. During the match, when the fans opened posters of Mahmut Yıldırım, codenamed "Yeşil", the white Taurus and JİTEM-affiliated gunman, "I die for my Turkey" music was played, while the broadcaster's announcer described the events as "Enthusiastic fans" and "beautiful images in the stands". What happened became a part of the attacks that Amedspor has always faced, in which the fans, the management, the referee, the Turkish Football Federation and politicians are partners. Defeated 2-1 at the end of the match, Amedspor fell from the leadership to the 3rd place, while Bursaspor went above the relegation pot.

 

RACISM

 

Ali Fikri Işık, the author of the books Amedspor Chaos and Resistance Amedspor and a sports writer, evaluated the latest developments. Emphasizing that the root cause of all movements and behaviors against Amedspor is racism, Işık said: "I do not think that what happened in Bursa happened despite the state. This racism cannot become this reckless unless it is supported by the current system and the institutional state. Therefore, what happened was pre-organized, organized and marginalizing. As a matter of fact, we have all seen the slogans shouted, the banners carried, the known perpetrators and symbols of the unsolved murders. The message is clear; they tell us that they are their master and that they will not grant us any rights. For one thing, neither the TFF, the Central Referee Committee nor the Professional Disciplinary Committee Amedspor's sporting sense  don't want it to be successful. Therefore, the state uses all the institutions and opportunities it can use to prevent this success."

 

'THE MATCH SHOULD BE POSTPONED'

 

Reminding that the Trabzonspor-Fenerbahçe match, played on March 10, 2014, where similar events took place, was interrupted and then registered 3-0 in favor of Fenerbahçe, Işık said: "Of course, if violence is applied to a football player and this is life-threatening, then that match should be suspended. -This is not the aim of football and the spectator relationship. The rules in the match itself were violated. The match had to be suspended and those who caused it had to be severely punished. Again under normal conditions, TFF should seize this match, determine that it was not played within the rules of football, and that the spectators were strongly involved in every moment of the match. These are the requirements of both sports ethics and law. But I have no hope that this will happen. Maybe they will issue a fine and close the case because foreign substances are thrown on the field for show."

 

'TFF SUPPORTS'

 

Noting that the TFF and the referees also want this attitude towards Amedspor to be maintained, Işık said: "As long as Amedspor has the possibility of becoming a champion in this league, this is the treatment it will receive from the TFF, other clubs, MHK, and PDK. These are political decisions. Basically, it's about sports and politics. It is not possible to separate them from each other. But the important thing is not to make sports a tool of politics. It is necessary not to let politics determine the rules of sports." 

 

MA / Tolga Guney