Pelin Akdemir-Vecdi Erbay
WALL – Bursaspor and Amedspor met on Sunday, March 5, in the 23rd week match of the TFF 2nd League White Group. Before and during the match, physical and verbal attacks were carried out on Amedspor players. In the match, a group in the stands of Bursaspor opened the banner of the “White Taurus” car, which is identified with the unsolved murders in the 90s, and the posters of Mahmut Yıldırım, codenamed “Yeşil”, and the character “Pala”, who played “Yeşil” in the Kurtlar Vadisi series. During the match, knives and bullets were thrown on the field along with plastic bottles. Despite the events, Bursaspor defeated Amedspor 2-1 in the match played.
Sports commentators in Bursa, regarding the reaction, said that the attacks were wrong and that the events that took place in 2010 and 25 September 2022 should also be discussed.
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Regarding the banners, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu made a statement on social media, “At the football match in Bursa, images other than football watching are unacceptable and cannot be associated with sports. An investigation has been launched against public officials who showed weakness in putting these images in the stadium and the relevant public officials have been suspended.” The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) announced that 9 people, including 3 private security officers working in the stadium, were detained within the scope of the investigation initiated by the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Nine people, who were transferred to Bursa Courthouse after their procedures at the police station, were released on the condition of judicial control.
Bursaspor Club and some club officials were referred to the Professional Football Disciplinary Board (PFDK) due to the attacks and cheers before and during the Amedspor match.
‘THE TFF WHO ALLOWED THE MATCH TO BE PLAYED IS CLAIMED’
HDP and Green Left Party Bursa provincial organizations made a statement regarding the events. HDP’s statement said, “The TFF, which allowed the match to be played, especially the Governorship and the Police Department, that allowed this to be played, and all the officials who allowed those criminal elements to be carried on the field and did not even take precautions on the field are clearly guilty, involved in the crime. They should resign immediately. ‘The government should resign. “Those who caused a storm in a spoonful of water have become silent in the face of open racism.” In the statement made by the Green Left Party, “We know very well what evil is trying to organize through Amedspor since yesterday. We are aware of the mind of the government, which is preparing to enter the elections in a chaotic environment. The state, which remained a spectator for three days, remained a spectator in the organized lynching against Amedspor.
‘IF THE CAMIA HAS BEEN RACIIST, IT WOULD NOT ELECT ME PRESIDENT’
Former Bursaspor President Emin Adanur stated that the posters that were opened were wrong and said, “It is extremely wrong to judge the entire community as racist over this. Mehmet Güzelsöz, who is the leader of the Bursaspor tribune, is from Diyarbakır. I’m from the east, I’m Kurdish. If the community were racist, they wouldn’t elect me as president.” Adanur said that the events started in 2010.
In the Bursaspor-Diyarbakırspor match played in Bursa in 2010, when Bursaspor was the champion, the events started with some of the fans whistling while the National Anthem was being sung. The same year, the match played in Diyarbakır lasted only 8 minutes due to the materials thrown on the field. The players and the accompanying Bursaspor delegation left the city under the control of the security forces. Bursaspor and Amedspor have faced each other 3 times since 2016. The match, in which Bursaspor was a guest of Amedspor on September 25, 2022, in the first half of the league, was not broadcast, although it was said to be broadcast on TRT.
‘TWO TEAMS CAN BE GIVEN TO DIFFERENT GROUPS’
Sports commentators in Bursa think that the events that took place on September 25 should also be discussed, stating that they did not find the attacks right after the posters of Mahmut Yıldırım, nicknamed ‘White Taurus’ and ‘Green’ were unveiled in the stands. Sports commentator Süha Gürsoy, who said, “It is not the event of yesterday,” reminded the events of 2010 and on September 25. Gürsoy said, “There have been events that we do not approve of. The institution in charge of this work is the Turkish Football Federation. Despite years of tension, he ignited the bomb by putting these two teams in the same group at the beginning of the season. The two teams could have been given to different groups. But the federation has paved the way for the events by taking the two teams into the same group,” he said.
Anatolian Journalists and Sports Writers Association (AGSYD) President İbrahim Erdoğan, who said that Bursaspor supporters did not find their behavior correct, but they were declared scapegoats, said, “The ways to prevent violence in sports cannot be achieved by being tolerant and scapegoating the other side. Wrong is wrong everywhere. It is necessary to show the same reaction to all of them. I see the events in the stands as the unacceptable behavior of a group of fans. Bursaspor fans should not be blamed for all. “There are thousands of fans who are unaware of it,” he said.
‘SHAME DOES NOT HAVE RELIGION, LANGUAGE OR RACE’
Sports commentator Tolgay Ataokay stated that the tension between the two cities has increased since the season ended with Bursaspor’s championship in 2010, and that neither side took a step back. “We watched something embarrassing (I can’t call it a match) in Bursa. However, we saw the same thing in Diyarbakır in the first half of the league. Embarrassment has no religion, language or race, shame is shame” Ataokay said that such conflicts seen in world sports are also seen in today’s political structure of Turkey. Ataokay said, “However, it is very important to be able to look at both sides equally when criticizing. In the match played in Diyarbakır, those thrown at 15-16-year-old children (including knives), the beating of young players by Amedspor football players, the harsh comments of those who did not react to the fact that the match was not broadcast live, broke the balance of the scales of justice, “he said.
‘DIYARBAKIRSPOR ATTACKED IS PUNISHED’
Reminding that the tension between Bursaspor and Amedspor team supporters started with the attacks against Diyarbakırspor in Bursa in 2019, Amedspor Club President Selahattin Yıldırım said, “At that time, there are images of the attacks of Bursaspor supporters against Diyarbakırspor players, managers and supporters. They even brutally attacked a father from Diyarbakır, who had a child in his arms. He said.
Yıldırım also reminded that despite the events that occurred, Bursaspor was not punished at that time, but Diyarbakırspor was punished in some way and reduced to the amateur cluster.
‘WE DID NOT WANT TO BE IN THE SAME GROUP WITH BURSASPOR’
Yıldırım stated that they applied to the federation at the beginning of the year and said that they did not want to be in the same group with Bursaspor. Yıldırım said, “Reminding the tension between the supporters of the two teams, we conveyed to the federation that we do not want to be in the same group with Bursaspor, both in writing and verbally. However, they said that 16 teams from the groups made the same request and they would not accept our request. In fact, when we insisted, ‘Are you afraid?’ They asked. Of course we are not afraid, but we want to play football and we do not want to be associated with such events. Therefore, we did not want to be in the same group with Bursaspor,” he said.
Referring to the evaluations that the events in the match played in Bursa last week were caused by the events that took place in Diyarbakır in September, Yıldırım said, “We did our best so that there would be no incidents on the field and in the stands. The police also took the necessary precautions. Despite this, plastic bottles and coins were thrown on the field. “It is true. However, no flammable or similar materials were thrown on the field and no one’s nose bled. Still, we received a two-match penalty and a fine of 150 thousand liras,” he said.
Referring to the number of pet water thrown into the field in Bursa, Yıldırım said, “So many water bottles were thrown on the field that if they had sent them to Hatay, which is suffering from water shortages, the need for water in the city would be met.”
‘FEDERATION PRESIDENT DID NOT ANSWER THE PHONE’
Stating that he called the politicians and the president of the federation due to the racist slogans chanted in front of the hotel on the night of the match, Yıldırım said, “We understood that a difficult match was waiting for us. I took initiatives to take precautions and ensure that the match went smoothly. I called the president of the federation many times, but he did not answer his phone. I called the next day when the events started on the field. However, this time he turned off his phone. He definitely watched the match, which 250 thousand people watched online, he saw the events. At least he was informed. However, he preferred to remain silent.”
‘WE WAS AN ORGANIZED ATTACK’
Yıldırım said that he was also in the stands. But they gave us the traffic police to ensure our safety. After the racist banners were shared on social media and the Minister of Interior made a statement, the riot police came to our place. So no serious measures had been taken for our safety until then. He said he was staying.
Yıldırım also emphasized that the sports public wanted the match to be played tense days before, therefore demanding that the match be played without spectators.
Stating that he condemned the insensitivity of the Bursa Governorship and Bursa Police Department, Yıldırım said: “The incidents actually started with racist slogans in front of the hotel at night and continued on the field and in the stands the next day. However, no one, no institution did anything to prevent the incidents. Serious attacks on us. “We had heard that it would happen, I shared it, and yet no security measures were taken. That’s why we think that the events in the Bursaspor match, the racist attacks and the threatening banners were organized.”
‘FEDERATION DID NOT SEE RACISM’
Evaluating Bursaspor’s referral to the Professional Football Disciplinary Board, Yıldırım said, “Bursaspor should have received a penalty of at least 15-20 matches after the fine.”
Inviting the TFF Board of Directors, the Disciplinary Board and the MHK to resign by saying, “Resign if you have honor,” Yıldırım said, “Because there have been racist attacks against our team. Everyone, including the football player’s security guard, attacked our players. Racist banners were unfurled, everything from knives to bullets was thrown on the field. However, there is nothing about these in the referral decision. There is nothing on the federation’s page where racism is a crime, there are sanctions for those who commit this crime, anyone can look. However, the federation ignored that this crime was committed. I think the statements of the politicians were effective in this and Bursaspor was almost rewarded. I did,” he said.
Yıldırım did not want to comment on the words of MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli towards Amedspor at the group meeting, saying, “Amedspor is a football team, politicians should answer politicians”.
