Fears of hooliganism as Turkish-Armenian diplomacy moves to football field
>From The Times Online
October 14, 2009
Turkish supporters say that they will forget politics during the match with
Armenia but they are not happy about the ?fireball? landing in their laps
Nicholas Birch in Istanbul
Mehmet Guzelsoz normally looks forward to football, but the weight of
expectation surrounding the match between Turkey and Armenia today is
proving difficult to bear.
It is not the game that worries him. Both sides have already forfeited their
chances of travelling to the World Cup finals next year.
What worries Mr Guzelsoz, the chairman of the biggest supporters¹ group in
the northwestern Turkish city of Bursa, where the match will be played, is
what could happen in the stands. ³Did they really have to chuck this
fireball into our laps while the whole world was watching?² he asked.
The match brings to a climax the process of rapprochement that began last
year at an Armenia-Turkey match in Yerevan, the Armenian capital. It was
attended by Abdullah Gül, the Turkish President. His Armenian counterpart,
President Sargsyan, now plans to return the gesture by going to the Bursa
match.
Nationalists on both sides oppose the thaw. Afraid of sabotage, authorities
in Bursa have been on red alert for days. Their first port of call has been
to the supporters¹ club, called Texas after the wild reputation its members
acquired in the 1970s.
³We¹ve talked to everybody,² Mr Guzelsoz said. ³The police chief, the
governor, politicians, even the President.²
On Sunday morning a Cabinet minister visited the 20,000-seat Ataturk stadium
in Bursa to talk to prominent Texas members. ³He told us to show the world
we are model fans,² said Selim Kurtalan, a Texas fan better known as ³the
Boss². ³We promised we would do everything to ensure the match went well.
Stadiums are for sport. Politics is for outside.²
That is not the image many Turks have of Texas. Since September 26, when
violence broke out during a match between Bursa and a team from the mainly
Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, the group has been pilloried in the press as a
hotbed of racist nationalism.
When some Diyarbakir supporters failed to stand for the national anthem that
has been a fixture of domestic games since a Kurdish separatist war broke
out in 1984, Bursa fans began hurling insults, stones and plastic chairs. A
12-year-old boy was taken to hospital with head injuries. Texas members said
that the affair was blown out of proportion. ³We accept we are hooligans,²
Mr Guzelsoz said disarmingly. ³What annoys us is to be described as extreme
nationalists.²
Mr Guzelsoz, a Kurd from Diyarbakir,agrees that the slogans shouted during
the match were offensive. He blamed the violence however on provocateurs
sitting in stands beyond the Texas group¹s control.
Running parallel with the Armenian rapprochement, unprecedented Turkish
efforts to solve its Kurdish problem have ³unfortunately created a fertile
ground for provocation², he added. ³Texas will cause no problems but this
isn¹t even our match. Who else will be in the stadium?²
On Sunday, a small crowd of Turks and Azerbaijani students waving national
flags gathered outside the stadium to protest against the Armenian thaw.
³The public is being tricked,² Fahrettin Yokus, a trade union leader, told
bystanders.
Like many Turks, Texas members said that the Armenian rapprochement could
move forward only if Armenia took steps to end the occupation of Azerbaijani
land that it has controlled since the 1990s. Turkey closed its border with
Armenia in 1993 to show solidarity with Azerbaijan. Reopening it is one of
the steps foreseen by the protocols, due to be ratified by Turkish and
Armenian parliaments.
Yet for all their sympathy for Azerbaijanis, most Bursa football fans said
that they supported the rapprochement. Batuhan Demirtas, a Texas member,
quoted a slogan by Turkey¹s founder, Kemal Atatürk: ³Peace at home, peace in
the world.²
³A century ago, England and France tried to carve this country up,² he said.
³Is there any point in scratching old sores? Of course not.²
Nonetheless, the authorities in Bursa are taking no chances. About 2,500
police will be on duty in the stadium tonight and surrounding buildings have
been searched.
Texas members doubt that many Armenian fans will turn up. They intend to
welcome those who do, mirroring friendly scenes during the match in Yerevan
last September.
They even plan to sing a well-known folksong – claimed by Turks, Azeris and
Armenians as their own – about a Muslim boy¹s tragic love for a Christian
girl.
³We have been dragged into politics against our will,² Mr Guzelsoz said.
³That final whistle blows and it is all over for us – politics, opening the
[border] gate, opening the window, they can do what they want. We just want
to go back to supporting our team. That is our life.²
Turf wars
? Christmas Day 1914, British and German troops stop fighting in First World
War. Thousands play football in no-man¹s land
? 1938, At Germany-England ³friendly² in Berlin, England told to make Nazi
salute. England win 6-3
? September 1967, two sides in Biafran war declare truce to watch Brazilian
team Santos, starring Pelé, play two matches
? 1969, ³Football War² erupts between El Salvador and Honduras after three
matches. First match (Honduras won 1-0) marred by riots. Second match (El
Salvador won 3-0) sees dead rats thrown in Honduran dressing room. After
third match (El Salvador won 3-2) El Salvador invades. Thousands killed and
100,000 displaced
? 1980, North and South Korean World Cup qualifier moved from Pyongyang to
Shanghai, because North will not fly South Korean flag or play national
anthem (Score 0-0)
? October 2008, Palestinian team play first home game, near Jerusalem,
against Jordan
Source: Times database