Post#18 » by Curtis Lemansky » Sun May 13, 2012 10:19 pm
Yeah the actions were directed towards the police, not towards the opponents (at least in the stadium). I also heard from many of my friends who were in the game (and are not holigan-types) that the police used excessive force (even before the match). A lot Fenerbahce fans believe that the match-fixing allegations and investigation are an attempt by the Gulenist movement (named after Fethullah Gulen, a controversial religious figure living in USA and has tremendous influence over all of the Turkey, including but not limited to current government) to overthrow Fenerbahce President Aziz Yıldırım and bring on someone from their organization to the head of the club. Given that the prosecutor is asking 157 years of prison for Yıldırım and trying to make him look like an organized crime leader, I'd say there is something definitely fishy in the trial process. The guy might be involved in match-fixing but he is not running an armed criminal organization. The fact that almost everyone taken into custody since the summer during the investigation, is set free except Yıldırım speaks volumes about the real intentions of the investigations. Anyhow long story short, the police force has been seen heavily under the influence of the Gulenist movement by many, including by Fenerbahce fans hence the angers towards the police forces in the stadium. Things just reached to a boiling point yesterday.
The fans were very calm throughout the game, did not throw anything at all to the field (that's quite an uncommon thing to happen in a derby) and some even clapped the opposing team after the match. Then suddenly all the hell broke loose.
Also reportedly police arrested 58 fans and some of them is said to have both Galatasaray and Fenerbahce jerseys with them, possibly indicating that they were there to provoke the crowd.
I watched the game outside with some of friends but I had a hard time getting back at home even 3-4 hours after the match. The streets really looked like a war zone. Also to even escalate things, even further, we have the Euroleague Final Four in İstanbul weekend with two Greek teams with extremely rowdy fanbases. Reportedly Panathinaikos fans and Galatasaray fans run into eachother before Fenerbahce-Galatasaray match and a big brawl ensued in the middle of Istanbul yesterday. Today Panathinaikos fans attacked Olympiakos fans in the busses and reportedly put some into hospital. Also they fired a firework into the Olympiakos fans in the arena before the final started.
Let's just say it has been a pretty WILD 72 hours in Istanbul. You have delirious Galatasaray fans, crazed Fenerbahce fans, head-hunting Panathinakos fans and rowdy Olympiakos fans in addition to some drunken Russian fans.
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