Erdoğan ally calls for football matches without fans after earthquake protests
"Children should always laugh," reads a banner on the Beşiktaş grandstand. (Photo: AA)
Supporters of the Beşiktaş football team protested against the government because of the February 6 earthquakes during last night's (February 26) match with Antalyaspor.
Four minutes and 17 seconds into the match, the supporters threw teddy bears onto the pitch to be given to children who survived the earthquake. The first earthquake in Maraş occurred at 4.17 a.m.
Throughout the game, fans at Vodafone Arena in İstanbul, Beşiktaş's home turf, chanted slogans calling on the government to resign.
A day before, Fenerbahçe fans made similar protests during the match against Konyaspor. Both teams, along with Galatasaray, are known as the "Big Three" of Türkiye's football.
HÜKÜMET İSTİFA!..”
— Cadde TV (@caddetvtr) February 26, 2023
İnönü’de maç başlamadan, Beşiktaş ve Antalyaspor taraftarları "Hükümet İstifa" sloganları atıyor#İSTİFAULAN #besiktaş pic.twitter.com/5setUlZ79h
"Disrespect"
After the game, Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and an ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, announced that he had canceled his membership in the club.
The protests against the government were disrespectful towards "our earthquake martyrs," a press advisor to Bahçeli said in a written statement.
The games should either be played without fans, or the necessary measures should be taken, said the statement.
After Bahçeli, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu also targeted the fans.
Speaking to reporters in Hatay, a province massively affected by the quakes, Soylu said, "Those who want to turn sports fields into political arenas should listen to the efforts of the state and the nation. Let them not interrupt our work. Nobody should arm wrestle against the security of Türkiye."
A photo virvulating on Twitter shows teddy bears and toys thrown onto the pitch.
On February 6, two earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.7 and 7.6 struck the southern city of Maraş.
The quakes affected 11 cities in Türkiye's south and southeast, as well as Syria's northern parts.
The official death toll from the quakes stands at over 44,000 and is expected to increase further, as over 160,000 buildings were destroyed or severely damaged, according to government figures.
Nearly two million people have been displaced due to the earthquakes. (VK)