Racism in Turkey is not only confined to the political sphere; it is a growing problem visible in every part of life, and in the world of football it is experienced across the entire field.
Today, racist discourse and attitudes are most clearly directed against Kurdish football teams. Racism targeting Kurdish city teams, particularly through Amedspor, is openly displayed by fans, club executives, players and commentators.
Racism since the Ottoman era
Racism in Turkish football dates back to the final years of the Ottoman Empire. Even football clubs founded directly by the Committee of Union and Progress (İttihat ve Terakki) existed. In line with Turanist ideology, the club Altınordu was established under the initiative of Talat Pasha, the primary architect of the Armenian genocide. In Ankara, the Ateş-Güneş Sports Club was founded to promote the Sun Language Theory. By the 1950s, ministers and deputies of the ruling Democrat Party were appointed as presidents of various clubs. In the 1990s, when the Kurdistan Freedom Struggle grew stronger, hostility towards Kurds flourished within Turkish football. Racist groups and mafia structures came to dominate almost the entire football scene in Turkey. In the 2000s, the white knit cap worn by Ogün Samast, the assassin of Hrant Dink, became a symbol for racists. The captain of Trabzonspor appeared at training wearing a white knit cap, and fans of some clubs began attending matches with the same caps. Most recently, the punishment issued over a Kurdish phrase on Amedspor’s jersey and the fact that this was even defended, clearly shows that this racist mentality remains firmly in place today.
‘Get the Kurds out’ announcement
Racist slogans targeting Kurds in Turkish football are older than the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Founded in 1968, Diyarbakirspor, from Diyarbakir (Amed), has always been subjected to hate speech against Kurds. During the team’s first away match in Kırıkkale, announcements were made over the stadium loudspeakers saying “Get the Kurds out.” After the team was promoted to the First League, they were frequently insulted during matches in Istanbul with chants such as “Diyarbakirroo,” a derogatory mockery.
Following the 12 September military coup, football teams from Kurdish cities began to be equated with the Kurdish Freedom Movement. The slogan once directed at Kurds, “Get the Kurds out,” was replaced after 1980 by “Get the PKK out.” Racist attitudes from football fans in Turkey against Kurdish teams, promoted insistently by the Turkish state in an attempt to control them and bring them to the First League to weaken the Kurdish Freedom Movement, never stopped. In the late 1990s, Police Chief Ali Gaffar Okan was among the state officials who took an interest in Diyarbakirspor. He openly stated his goal as “building a relationship between the Kurds and the state through football and reducing the People’s Democracy Party (HADEP)’s vote to below 10 percent.”
Even the name Amed was blocked
Amedspor became an important development for Kurds. The club was founded on 28 October 2014, but its name was not approved by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) until August 2015. For one year, the TFF refused to approve the team’s name solely because of the word Amed (Diyarbakir). Amedspor was subjected to racist attacks during every away match it played. These attacks came not only from opposing fans but also from rival players on the pitch. Opposing players persistently gave military salutes after scoring goals. Commentators on channels broadcasting Amedspor matches avoided saying “Amedspor,” instead referring to the team as “they” or changing its name to “Amed Sportif.” The team’s jersey colors were targeted, and attacks were carried out against shops selling Amedspor merchandise. Over time, the bond formed between Amedspor and the Kurdish people evolved into a front of resistance against all these attacks. After every victory, Amedspor players and fans began singing the song “Diren Diyarbakır” (Resist Diyarbakir) together. Eventually, the song became the team’s unofficial anthem.
Examples of racist incidents in Turkish football
1999 – Mehmet Ali Yılmaz, then president of Trabzonspor, used racist language against Black player Kevin Campbell.
2002 – Fenerbahçe fans shouted “Hitler, we understand you better” against Israeli players on their team.
2007 – During the Afyonspor–Bozüyükspor match, both sides’ fans chanted “We are all Ogün, we are all Turks,” referring to Hrant Dink’s assassin Ogün Samast.
2007 – The captain of Trabzonspor came to training wearing the same white knit cap worn by Hrant Dink’s murderer.
2007 – At the Konyaspor–Denizlispor match, some Konyaspor fans wore the same white caps used by Hrant Dink’s assassin.
January 2007 – During a match in Malatya between Malatyaspor and Elazığspor, Elazığspor fans displayed a banner reading “We are neither Armenian nor from Malatya, we are from Elazığ,” and chanted “Armenian Malatya.”
2008 – Trabzonspor fans protested Central Referee Board President Oğuz Sarvan with the chant “Genocide for Oğuz the Armenian in Trabzon.”
2008 – Coach Samet Aybaba made racist remarks about Egyptian player Abdel Sattar Sabry (El Saka), and Fatih Terim used racist language against Bosnian player Saffet Sürgün.
2009 – Before the Diyarbakirspor–Bursaspor match, Bursaspor fans greeted the Diyarbakirspor team with banners reading “How happy is the one who says I am a Turk.”
2010 – At the Beşiktaş–Bursaspor match, Bursaspor fans shouted “Armenian dogs support Beşiktaş” at Beşiktaş supporter Alen Markaryan.
2010 – Trabzonspor fans confronted members of the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP) at a protest for Hrant Dink in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, chanting “Ogün Samast, olé” and “Yasin the bomber,” praising those involved in racist violence.
2011 – Beşiktaş fans insulted Galatasaray player Emmanuel Eboué by calling him a “monkey.”
2013 – Fenerbahçe fans waved bananas and shouted “monkey” at Black players. They later held a press conference saying: “We did not insult anyone, we also have Black friends.”
2016 – Amedspor fans were put on trial for displaying a banner reading “Let children not die, let them come to matches.”
2016–2020 – Amedspor supporters were banned from attending at least 70 away games.
2015 – Before the Turkey–Iceland match in Konya following the Ankara massacre, the minute of silence for the victims was booed by Turkish fans, who whistled and chanted “How happy is the one who says I am a Turk.”
January 2016 – After scoring a goal against Amedspor, Başakşehir player Semih Şentürk gave a military salute toward Amedspor fans and later described it as a “war gesture.”
January 2016 – Police raided Amedspor’s club building and confiscated computers.
February 2016 – Deniz Naki received a 12-match ban following his social media post after a Bursaspor match: “As Amedspor, we did not bow our heads and we never will… We dedicate this victory to those who have been killed and wounded under oppression for over 50 days in our lands.”
2014 – Deniz Naki, while playing for Gençlerbirliği, was assaulted after being targeted with the words “Are you the Kurdish Alevi player?” He was later banned from Turkish football by the Turkish Football Federation after criticising Turkey’s attack on Afrin (Efrîn). He was publicly targeted and received death threats.
2017 – Turkish Twitter figure Hakan Hepcan called Galatasaray player Bafétimbi Gomis a “monkey.”
December 2020 – During a match, the fourth referee used racist language against Başakşehir assistant coach Pierre Webó.
December 2020 – Sports commentator Emre Bol used racist expressions against Galatasaray player Mbaye Diagne on live television.
2023 – Amedspor was met with banners of “White Toros” and “Yeşil, Counter-Guerrilla” (referring to Turkish deep state death squads) during their away match against Bursaspor. Racist chants were shouted and attacks were carried out. When Bursaspor received a penalty, the club said: “This punishment is not for us but for all patriotic supporters.”
2024 – During a football match between Getronagan Armenian High School and Istanbul Technical University (ITU), the crowd chanted “Refugees out.”
Racist slogans and banners
* “Armenian dogs support Beşiktaş”
* “Let the one who does not stand be Armenian”
* “Genocide for Oğuz the Armenian in Trabzon”
* “From the priest’s meadow to Kanuni’s homeland, how dare you come?”
* “How happy is the one who says ‘I am a Turk’”
* “We are all Turks”
* “We are all soldiers (Mehmetçik)”
* “PKK out”
* “We’ll come onto the pitch…”
* “We are all Ogün”
* “A Turk has no friend but another Turk”
* “We don’t want terrorists on the pitch”
* “Jewish bastard”
* “White Toros banner”
* “Green banner”