“Government, resign!” Thousands of supporters of the Turkish football team Besiktas launched an appeal on Sunday evening February 26 in the Vodafone stadium in Istanbul, on the occasion of the championship match against Antalyaspor. Joining those of the Fenerbahçe club, they called for the resignation of the government, almost three weeks after the earthquake of February 6, which killed more than 44,000 people in Turkey.
Fenerbahçe supporters sang “Lies, cheats, it’s been 20 years, quit!” “, during a meeting on Saturday against Konyaspor. On Sunday evening, during this Turkish Super League match, supporters of the Istanbul team also threw soft toys on the lawn, in tribute to the children victims of the devastating earthquake in the south-east of Turkey.
Since the earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8, the Turkish government has been strongly criticized by the opposition and independent media for its lack of reaction during the first days in devastated areas. With the approach of the presidential and legislative elections scheduled for May 14, the popularity of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, already damaged by the economic crisis, is suffering a little more.
“Voices Find a Rift and Rise”
In an attempt to silence critics, Ankara temporarily blocked access to Twitter on February 8. The Turkish Broadcasting High Council (RTUK) also sanctioned three television channels that criticized the government. “The earthquake not only destroys the houses, but also the empire of fear. Even if we ban Twitter or TV channels […], voices find a loophole and rise. As was the case in the stands of Fenerbahçe, “said a Turkish journalist, Mustafa Hos, on Twitter on Saturday.
The supporters of Besiktas, one of the Istanbul clubs, are known to be quite close to the opposition. Open calls for the resignation of authorities have been rare in Turkey, since President Erdogan’s hardening of power after the attempted coup against him in 2016. resignation during the Fenerbahçe-Konyaspor match is irresponsible and senseless,” reacted on Twitter Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the Nationalist Action party, coalition partner of Mr. Erdogan’s AKP party. Mr Bahceli even called on clubs to take “urgent and necessary measures” to ensure matches are played without fans.
