DIYARBAKIR FEELS THE PINCH ON THE PITCH

Hurriyet Daily News
Nov 6 2009
Turkey

Recent trouble at matches involving Diyarbakirspor has brought
racism in football and in society as a whole to the fore of public
discussions. Diyarbakirspor once enjoyed the advantages of state
support, but the government’s recent Kurdish initiative has led to
questions about why the team has become the target of protests

Diyarbakirspor is more than just a football club for the city.

Diayrbakir Gov. Huseyin Avni Mutlu (R), Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir
(C), Diyarbakir deputy Kutbettin Arzu (L) pose for photographers all
wearing Diyarbakirspor scarves. Second on the right is Diyarbakirspor
chairman Ceitn Sumer. AA photo

The "democratic" or "Kurdish" initiative has seen its share of heated
political debates in many different venues, but now the debate has
struck in the most popular forum in Turkey — the football pitch.

Recently, stadiums have featured unruly scenes and the protests are
increasing whenever Diyarbakirspor, a team often associated with
Kurdishness, takes the field.

Many ultra-nationalists in Turkey consider Diyarbakirspor, from the
biggest city in southeastern Turkey, as a representative of the Kurdish
population and, by extension, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party,
or PKK. The team and its supporters have on many occasions become
targets of anti-Kurdish banners and chants.

The latest incident was during a Nov. 1 game in Gaziantep, after which
Diyarbakirspor executives complained that the home team supporters
chanted offensive slogans. The northwestern city of Bursa witnessed
worse scenes in late September when Diyarbakirspor fans were booed
and plastic seats where thrown at them.

"We have nothing to do with politics and we do not deserve these
protests," said Diyarbakirspor’s Chairman Cetin Sumer after the
Gaziantepspor game, announcing they would not play against Galatasaray
on Sunday.

Sumer’s announcement caused debates in the Turkish media, and although
Diyarbakirspor’s administrative board changed its decision Thursday
and announced they would be on the pitch on Sunday, many questions
remain unanswered as to why such conflicts arise against the team.

"Even though we deny it, racism is increasing in Turkish football,"
wrote Radikal daily’s sports columnist BagıÅ~_ Erten. "Still,
it is not an excuse for the hatred that is growing on the streets
of Turkey. It is not just a problem in football. We need a public
initiative to solve it."

Yet, some think racism has always existed but only now is the Turkish
media recognizing it.

"People of Diyarbakir have grown accustomed to such protests," said
Ibrahim AteÅ~_oglu, Diyarbakir representative of Turkish Sports Writers
Association, or TSYD. "But the media were not interested. Only now
have they started paying attention to the issue and making headlines."

Writer and journalist Murat Toklucu told the Hurriyet Daily News &
Economic Review that protests in the past were limited to isolated
incidents.

"In 2000 there was a game between Diyarbakirspor and Konyaspor
scheduled to play in Konya. On the day of the game, many university
students, mostly girls, were allegedly beaten and dragged into the
streets because they were from Diyarbakir," he said. "Now with the
Kurdish initiative, the isolated protests have turned into mass
actions."

"The move has definitely triggered the protests. Since the 90s
football stadiums have been the mirrors of political agendas,
and currently it is used by those who think all Kurds are ‘killer
dogs,’" said Erten. "It is not uncommon to identify teams with ethnic
identities. We identify Trabzonspor with the Laz. But the question
is why aren’t there protests against them?"

We are all Turks

Turkish football stadiums have often been used for protests. After
Sept. 11, protests were held in support of Osama Bin Laden and against
the United States. Another recent case also happened when Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink was killed in 2007. During a game between
Trabzonspor and Kayserispor, ultra-nationalist supporters carried signs
saying, "We are all Turks, we are all Turkey lovers," as a response to
"We are all Dink, we are all Armenian," slogan by Dink’s supporters.

Yet, having a better perspective on the Diyarbakirspor issue perhaps
requires a closer look on the team’s relationship with the state.

"Before 2000, Diyarbakirspor used to be a very weak team. Yet, when
the state decided to make peace with the Kurds, it suddenly made its
way into the Super League, the top flight," said Toklucu, recalling
the lower division title fight in 2000-2001.

A state project?

In the early 2000s, a lot of controversy around the Diyarbakirspor
football team as it advanced into the top league because of what some
say was significant state support.

In January 2001, the former Diyarbakirpsor chairman, the Diyarbakir
Police Chief Gaffar Okkan, along with five other police officers
were assassinated by Turkish Hezbollah militants. Then, in May 2001,
third-place Diyarbakirspor hosted second-place Altay with two weeks
left in the season. Because Okkan had been a very popular figure
among Diyarbakir locals there was immense pressure for the club to
be in the top league in order to ease stress in the city.

The game turned out to be a disgrace to Turkish football. It was
scheduled to be broadcast live by state-run channel TRT but was
canceled at the last minute. Stones were thrown at the Altay players
as they stepped onto the pitch and there were many injuries.

"The spectators threw glass marbles at the players in the first 15
minutes of the game," Yuksel Guruz, a board member at the time, wrote
Toklucu in his book "Taraftarın Senle" (Your Fans Behind You). "At one
point, I feared we would not make it out of the stadium alive. I have
been to many games all over the country, but never witnessed this."

Journalists from Izmir were locked up in a dressing room. Taking
photos and video was prohibited until the home team led by three
goals. Diyarbakirspor won the game 3-1 and made it into the top league.

Then, in 2005, when Diyarbakirspor was officially sponsored by the
local government, the team dropped again to the lower division but
managed to make it back to the Super League. Its then Chairman Adnan
Okturen had close relations with the military and state officials. The
local government’s sponsorship also raised controversy.

According to Tanil Bora, a leading academic specializing in
nationalism, Diyarbakirspor is not just a local team. It expresses
Kurdish identity and is regarded as the common man’s team. Yet the
controversy over the last 10 years affected Diyarbakirspor’s popularity
and could be why the team has become the target so much hatred.

"It definitely caused the people to loose sympathy for [the team], but
only a very small percentage," said Toklucu. "Diyarbakirspor’s story
is definitely complicated, almost as complicated as the Kurdish issue.

But closer examination of the state’s policy toward the Kurdish issue
could explain a lot about Diyarbakirspor."