Turkey’s political football

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 6 June 2019

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Football in Turkey's biggest city always means colour, passion and noise, but this season has an added edge. The big three Istanbul clubs, which have generally had a vice-like grip on the Super Lig crown are this year facing a new challenger, another city club, Basaksehir. This club has been assembled with international stars thanks to the money of close business associates of the President Erdogan himself. The political symbolism of the title race has not been lost on many football fans in Istanbul, especially as the city prepares for a controversial re-run of Istanbul's Mayoral election in late June. Judges have just overturned the declared victory of an opposition candidate, thanks to ill-specified irregularities. There have been public protests over that decision. But then as President Erdogan often says: "He who wins Istanbul, wins Turkey". How has the rivalry on the football field reflected the political division of the city and the country?

Reporter/producer: Ed Butler

(Image: Fans at a Galatasaray home match, May 2019. Credit: Reuters/Murad Sezer)

Transcript

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0:00.0	I've always known there weren't too many cities in the world with more fanatical
0:03.4	enthusiasm for their football teams than the people of Istanbul.
0:07.2	The cauldron-like atmosphere of the stadiums in this place is
0:11.4	legendary, but I hadn't realized before how much politics was creeping in
0:15.8	these are tricky times in Turkey the country suffering an economic crisis
0:20.1	its politics is increasingly divided and now it seems football fans are finding their voice and taking sides accordingly.
0:29.0	See what you think. Just a few hours to go before the climax of the Football League in Turkey. The centre of Istanbul is packed with fans. Our fans are ready to be the champion.
0:55.0	Gala Tassuai has been a dream for the last 30 years.
0:59.0	Galatasaray has been a dream for the last 30 years.
1:02.0	We found tickets on the black market. They were very expensive
1:05.9	But we just struggled and we found the money to be here
1:09.4	You're listening to assignment on the BBC World Service. My name's Ed Butler and today I'm in
1:15.1	Istanbul the country's commercial capital just a few minutes away now from the
1:20.0	climax to the Turkish football season I'm going to be hearing from fans like the
1:24.7	ones you can hear behind me and trying to find out why the battle for this year's
1:29.8	Super League seems to be about so much more than football.
1:35.0	Normally it's just football game.
1:37.0	But now this is something else.
1:41.0	So what is different this time around?
1:44.0	Well, this year's Turkish football season has come down to a contest between just two teams.
1:49.0	Last year's champions, one of Istanbul's so-called Big Three clubs, Galatasaray versus a newcomer.
1:55.8	Bashakshahir.
	...

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