The tirchi football players salute after the goal against France (Ansa)
ROME – New military salute for Turkish players. At the time of the draw against France (1-1) at the Stade de France, on the outskirts of Paris, several Ankara national players repeated the controversial gesture, a tribute to the Turkish soldiers engaged in the offensive against the Kurds in Syria. In the image that is now raging on social networks, at least seven players of the crescent gathered near the corner post, posing with their right hands stretched on their foreheads, just like in last Friday's match against Albania.
30 thousand Turks at the Stade de France
Yet the match, heavily armored in terms of security measures due to the presence of 30 thousand Turkish fans from Germany and half of Europe, started well despite the fears of the vigil. Many had feared that the Marseillaise, the national anthem of France, would be booed, as happened in part in the first match last June in Konya.
Even the Turkish ambassador in France had intervened, in the past few hours, to ask to respect the national anthems of the two nations currently subject to hot diplomatic tensions after the Ankara intervention against the Kurds in northern Syria. But in the end the Marseillaise was performed in perfect condition, with no whistle from the stands, as was the Turkish anthem Istiklal Marsi (March of Independence). Even though, since the game started, the thousands of Turkish fans did not spare the whistles when the Bleus world champions had the ball.
There is what he says no: Hakan Sukur's tweet
This is precisely the case of Hakan Sukur, a former Inter and Turkish national bomber, who wrote on twitter: "Mine is a struggle for justice, democracy, freedom and human dignity. I don't care what I can lose if humanity is the winner ”. The former player, now 48, has already gotten into trouble for his ideas at odds with Turkish President Erdogan's line.
After being elected to Parliament at the end of his career, Sukur was forced to resign in 2013 following an investigation that involved Erdogan and three years later he was given an arrest warrant because he was considered close to a terrorist group following the attempted coup on July 16th. But his today is not the only voice out of the choir among Turkish athletes.
Kanter of the Boston Celtics quotes Reverend King
In the Nba basketball the gesture of Enes Kanter, a 27-year-old Boston Celtics center, is highly symbolic in content, wearing a pair of shoes with 'Freedom' written on it during the pre-season match against Cleveland. Then, on twitter, he quoted Martin Luther King: "Our life begins to end the day we remain silent about the things that matter". (sources Ansa and Agi)
The Turkey article , after the goal to France, other military greetings. But there are those who say no to Erdogan: Hakan Sukur, Enes Kanter seems to be the first on daily Blitz .
Source: Blitz Quotidiano