Politics prevail in Turkish football

Thomas Seibert, Foreign Correspondent

• Last Updated: June 19. 2008 11:55PM UAE / June 19. 2008 7:55PM GMT

Supporters of the Turkish football team celebrate in Frankfurt after the victory over the Czech Republic. AFP

ISTANBUL // As Turkey prepares for a crucial quarter-final football match against Croatia at the European Championship in Vienna tonight, the Turks' intoxication with the sport shows the psychological role that football plays in a country that yearns to be accepted as an equal by the big European powers, observers say.

Turkey beat the Czech Republic 3-2 on Sunday to advance to the quarter final of the championship. Following the triumph against the Czechs, some commentators said the Turks could go all the way. "Two more matches, and we're in the final," said a comment in the daily Milliyet.

"There is an identity crisis in this country, there is a national inferiority complex," said Deniz Gokce, an economist and sports writer. "Did you hear what Turkish fans shouted after the match against the Czechs?" Mr Gokce said. "They shouted: 'Europe, Europe, hear our voice'.

"We are talking about a nation which missed 250 years of industrialisation and experienced a collapse from a big empire to a relatively small country," Mr Gokce said, referring to the breakup of the once-mighty Ottoman Empire at the end of the First World War and the subsequent birth of the Turkish republic in 1923.

Participation in the quarter final at the European Championship is one of the biggest successes for Turkish football. The country reached the same stage in the European Championship of 2000 and was No 3 in the World Cup in 2002. In addition, the team of Galatasaray Istanbul won the UEFA Cup eight years ago.

After Sunday's surprise win of the Turks against the Czechs, when the team coached by Fatih Terim came from behind after trailing 0-2 to win the match after scoring three goals in the last fifteen minutes, Turkish newspapers drew comparisons between the drama on the pitch and momentous events in the country's history.

"Turks are once again laying siege to Vienna," said a headline in the Radikal newspaper, in a reference both to the venue of the Croatia match and the two unsuccessful attempts of the Ottomans to take the Austrian capital in the 16th and the 17th centuries.

Some newspapers called the match against the Czechs an "epic". Others used the phrase "those crazy Turks" to describe the Turkish team's determination to win against the Czechs. A well-known novel titled Those Crazy Turks, which has been a bestseller in Turkey since it was published in 2005, deals with the Turkish War of Liberation after the First World War. That conflict saw a hopelessly outnumbered Turkish force, led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, fighting against the odds to lay the groundwork for the republic.

In Istanbul, the mood on the streets was cheerful, but much more level-headed than the headlines suggested. "Now it's Croatia's turn," said Gungor, a fruit seller. "They are a strong team, but of course there are no longer any weak teams at this stage."

Although people like Gungor are much more down to earth in their comments than the press, football plays a very important role for them, said Fatih Uraz, a sports writer for the daily Zaman. "We have problems here in Turkey. Life is getting more expensive, people lose their jobs, but football allows us to forget the bad things, it lets us breathe."

In Turkey, no other sport can compete with football in popularity. According to the latest count by football's world body, Fifa, there were 2.75 million active football players and 4,450 clubs in Turkey in 2006. Big clubs like the reigning national champion Galatasaray Istanbul or their rivals, Fenerbahce Istanbul, command a strong following, with allegiances to a club often handed down from father to son.

Apart from club activities, many informal teams play on synthetic grass pitches that are rented by the hour. According to press reports, there are about 12,000 of those pitches in the country, with 2,000 in Istanbul alone. Many pitches are open seven days a week, often with matches lined up well into the late evening hours.

"Football is a democratic sport," Mr Gokce said. "Everybody can play it; it doesn't take much to play it, and there's an element of improbability that gives the little guy a chance to win."

But in Turkey, football is more than just a recreational activity or a national pastime. It is also part of the national identity. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, has drawn a comparison between the advances of the national team at the European Championship and the country's bid to become a member of the European Union.

"Just like our national team is an indispensable part of the colour, the excitement and the possibilities of the European Championship, Turkish membership will have a big and positive effect on the EU," Mr Erdogan told a meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, this week.

The fact that many footballers of Turkish descent play in the national teams of European countries is "proof that the Turkish and European people are inseparable", Mr Erdogan said. He called on EU leaders, many of whom are reluctant to accept Turkey as a member, to heed that message.

This week's elimination of France from the European Championship is likewise being read in a political light, Mr Gokce said. Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, has angered Turks by repeatedly speaking out against Turkish EU membership and by blocking some chapters in the membership negotiations between the European Union and Turkey that started in 2005. The political symbolism of Turkey's continued participation in the tournament after the French exit at the European Championship will not be lost on Turks, Mr Gokce said: "It's Turkey 1 - Sarkozy 0."

tseibert@thenational.ae