TURKISH AND AMERICAN TEAMS CLASH AT PAN-ARMENIAN GAMES
Yonca Poyraz,ÝStanbul
Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Sept 4 2007
A Turkish daily yesterday carried reports of a clash between
Turkish-Armenian and American-Armenian basketball teams at
the Pan-Armenian Games in Yerevan, however the captain of the
Ýstanbul-based team later said the report had exaggerated any racial
element to the incident.
The Turkish daily Sabah reported on Monday that members of the
American-Armenian team Glendale attacked Turkish-Armenian players
during the game. Explaining that the event, which brings together
Armenians living in different countries took place last week, adding:
"This time, the games held every four years were marked by ugly
attacks, not sports. The US Armenian male basketball team attacked
the Ýstanbul team from Turkey. American basketball players provoked
a Turkish player during a double game by saying ‘ugly Turkish dogs’."
The report added that the police had had to intervene in the brawl.
"We beat the Yerevan team the day before our match with [US side]
Glendale. Team members from Glendale had watched that game and I’m sure
they had an idea about how powerful our team was. So they were pretty
tense at the game the next day," said Alen Tekbýcak, the captain of
the Ýstanbul basketball team, comprised of Turkish-Armenians. "The
players pushed and shoved one another and police had to interfere,
plus fouls were given to both sides, but nobody called our team players
‘dirty Turkish dogs’," he explained.
Tekbýcak said the players from both sides shook hands at the end of
the game, which ended with Glendale’s 74-65 victory on Aug. 20. The
team members also came across each other that night at a dinner and
had a friendly chat, he added.
The newspaper report cited an article by an "Armenian journalist,"
Onnik Krikorian, who gave an account of the events on his blog,
The Armenia-based British journalist and photographer
Onnik Krikorian replied to Today’s Zaman by e-mail, saying: "I
was there at the game and saw the fight on the court as shown in
the photos I took. However, I didn’t hear the actual insult that is
alleged to have happened, which is why I’ve said that it’s according
to one side. However, I did speak to one of the Glendale players
after the match who denied that the fight had anything to do with the
fact that the Ýstanbul Armenians were from Turkey. He added ‘They’re
half-Armenian after all’ and ‘They have some Armenian blood in them’."
Krikorian also noted that the game seemed tense throughout, but "it’s
important to note that the other matches I saw involving Ýstanbul
teams passed peacefully and without any tensions on or off court."
Regarding the fight, a few of the Glendale players have left comments
on Krikorian’s Web site. Some of them do not deny that derogatory
remarks were made toward the Ýstanbul team, and one even accuses them
of "acting like Turks," suggesting their origin did play a role in
the fight.
The Pan-Armenian Games are hosted every four years in Armenia with the
participation of Armenian athletes from all over the world. At the
closing ceremony, Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargzyan presented
a cup to the Turkish team for representing their city in the best
way. The games were held between Aug. 18-26 and Turkish teams
participated in football, volleyball, basketball, tennis, chess and
track-and-field events.
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