Hurriyet / Turkish Daily News
February 12, 2009 Thursday
CAN TURKEY KICK RACISM OFF THE PITCH?
With some of European footballs top countries under scrutiny for
racism, the question arises in Turkey as well, where maybe the country
is immune or simply deaf, dumb and blind to the problem.
If you ask that question to fans, club board members, footballers or
administrators of the game, you will probably hear that there is no
danger of racism in Turkish football, but is there really?
In the summer of 2006, Turkish sports journalists were trying to hype
up stories of Fenerbahce signing world-class footballer Samuel
Etoo. Maybe there was no official offer from Fener to the Cameroonian
strikers club Barcelona, but who cares? Turkish sports journalists,
who can match their Western tabloid counterparts in fake news and
being paid for their imagination, were fast to create the link and
made an open call to Etoo.
"He is believed to be warming to the idea of coming to Turkey, as
there is no racism to bother him here," the papers wrote without
citing any resources.
Etoo famously walked off the pitch after Real Zaragoza fans shouted
constant racist slogans at him during a La Liga game on Feb. 25,
2006. Yes, the striker was fed up with racism, but was it really true
that Turkey did not have its issues with racism?
According to sports writer Ybrahim Altynsay, this is only an illusion.
"There are some cliches in Turkey," said Altynsay at a panel titled
"Racism in Sports" organized by the Stop Racism platform. "The
sentence, There is no racism in Turkey, is one of those," he said.
A columnist at daily Radikal, Altynsay believes the cliche is a result
of the word "racism" being misleading in Turkish.
"When people hear the word racism, they only think about ethnicity,"
he said. "A more comprehensive word should be used, such as
discrimination. There is discrimination toward women, homosexuals,
Armenians, Kurds, Alevis and others. It’s the us and them type of
discrimination."
[HH] "We are all black"
If we are limiting the subject to discrimination by skin color, it may
be true that there are no racist tendencies in Turkey. Ask any
football fan and they will remember how Bethorniktathorn fans stood up
for their Pascal Nouma. One week after referee Ali Aydyn referred to
the French striker as "the black player," the Ynonu Stadium was filled
with banners that read, "Hepimiz zenciyiz," which means, "We are all
black."
The slogan quickly became a catchphrase in social life and was used to
support anyone suffering from discrimination, most famously in
protests of the assassination of the Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant
Dink. Hundreds of banners reading, "We are all Armenian" in Turkish
and Armenian were raised in the air during the rallies.
That example is proof of how football interacts with society, but it
may be deceptive as well, as racism is more than just skin deep.
For example, a notorious debate sparked when Genclerbirliethi coach
Samet Aybaba made a comment about his player, Abdel Zaher El Saka,
"This country prefers an Arab over me?"
Most recently, Sivasspors Israeli striker Pini Balili has been the
subject of racially abusive remarks. During Sivasspors game against
the Turkish league leader Galatasaray fans yelled "damn Israel" in
their chants before cursing at Balili.
[HH] Different dynamics:
Another columnist at Radikal, Baethythorn Erten, believes footballs
dynamics differ from the rest of society.
"When Israeli Haim Revivo played for Fenerbahce there were such
protests," said Erten. "After his move to Galatasaray, there were
similar slogans, only coming from the other side."
"If Balili was playing for Galatasaray, then the fans and team would
try to protect him and the other teams would start to shout racist
slogans," Erten said.
On a heavier note, following claims of injustice toward their team,
Trabzonspor supporters threatened the Central Refereeing Committee, or
MHK, Chairman Oethuz Sarvan with the slogan, "Armenian Oethuz,
genocide for you!"
"Whatever is in Turkish society is reproduced in stadiums and
sometimes pronounced more violently than the actual sentiments," said
Altynsay. "And some things said remain in use long after the game."
[HH] No charges
Erten was shocked to see there were no legal investigations for that
remark, let alone charging those who were responsible.
Turkish Football Federation regulations are broad enough to kick
racism out of the game but despite Chairman Mahmut Ozgeners warning to
avoid racist remarks in protests, no official investigations were
made.
"It is in the books. There are enough rules to penalize a team for
racist abuse, but nothing has happened yet," said Erten.
Racist remarks are often made just to annoy the other team, but it is
still dangerous. Sivasspor coach Bulent Uygun tried to protect Balili
by trying to show that he is "one of us." But Altynsay said the move
was "even worse," as if a foreign player cannot live in Turkey with
his differences and continue his life only by proving "he is like a
Turk." "The fact is discrimination has become an inseparable part of
sports," said Altynsay
[HH] ‘Immunity’ of football:
There is a light at the end of the tunnel, according to Erten, due to
the "immunity" of football
"Tax fraud is immoral for everybody, but when clubs do it, fans accept
it silently," he said. "Or adversely, you get beaten by police if you
want a workers union, but everybody admires if you stand up to say
there should be a union for footballers."
And that can be the starting point. Just like Turkish people started
to discuss the notion of nationality after Marco Aurelio of Brazilian
descent was granted Turkish citizenship and became eligible to play
for the national team.
And football can be a strange metaphor for life, when 11 people get to
play for the same target, no matter how different they are.
"Just like society, football is a ground where differences live among
each other," said Altynsay. "Maybe there should be a football team
with a homosexual goalkeeper, Armenian right back, Kurdish and Alevi
center backs, etc. The problem could be solved."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
