“Government, resign! » Thousands of supporters of the Turkish football team Besiktas launched an appeal, 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, cheating, it’s been 20 years, resign! », in a Saturday game 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 fault and rise”
Attempting to silence critics, Ankara had temporarily blocked access to Twitter on February 8. The Turkish Audiovisual High Council (RTUK) also sanctioned three television channels for criticizing 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 fault and rise. As was the case in the stands of Fenerbahçe”a estimated on Saturday a Turkish journalist, Mustafa Hos, on Twitter.
The supporters of Besiktas, one of the Istanbul clubs, are said 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. “As our country struggles with the biggest disaster of the century, shouting resignation slogans during the Fenerbahçe-Konyaspor game is irresponsible and senseless”, reacted on Twitter Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the Nationalist Action party, a coalition partner of Mr. Erdogan’s AKP party. Mr. Bahceli even called on the clubs to take “urgent and necessary measures” so that the matches are played without supporters.