Attack on Amedspor: Fans question how explosives, racist banners allowed in stadium

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Thirteen left-wing football fan groups have condemned the attacks on Amedspor, a football club based in the predominantly Kurdish-populated city of Diyarbakır, during a match against Bursaspor yesterday (March 5).

Fans of Bursaspor displayed racist banners on the stands and threw objects onto the field throughout the game. Despite the incidents, referres did not postpone the match, which Bursaspor won 2-1 in its home turf.

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In a written statement today, the fan groups said, "The Bursaspor-Amedspor match has taken its place as a black spot in the history of football."

Noting that the attacks on the Amedspor staff and players began a day before the game when Bursaspor supporters gathered outside the hotel they were staying in, it was "callous" on the authorities' part to expect that the game would be played without any problems.

"The failure to take adequate measures against incidents of violence, unfortunately, means that the city's law enforcement and local authority do not perform their duties properly.

"As fans who are searched for before the match, we know very well that it is not possible to bring even a plastic bottle into the stadium, let alone explosives and injurious and dangerous substances.

"Similarly, the banners opened in the stands are checked by the police every week and if found 'appropriate', they are allowed inside. It is a fascist threat to show the banners of a white Taurus and a hitman, symbolizing the unsolved murders committed in the '90s, and to turn a blind eye to that.

"To view what happened as the incompetence of a few officials and making a statement that 'we have punished those who did not fulfill their duties' is to cover up the incident.

"The fact that the match was not postponed despite the threats and attacks that had been going on since the start of the game is another proof that the necessary intervention was not made.

"The sports police, which immediately framed supporters and hunted the fans by following the media closely, did not perform its primary duty today.

"We believe that all colors are beautiful and represented in football. We will show that those who oppose this idea do not have a place in the stands.

"Despite your all efforts, we will build a future against discrimination together. We will not leave Amedspor alone."

The following groups signed the statement: Barikat, Mor Barikat (Amedspor), Dersimspor Direniş, Beleştepe (Beşiktaş), Karşı Taraf (Gençlerbirliği), Tek Yumruk (Galatasaray), Karakızıl (Gençlerbirliği), 6.Bölge (Adana Demirspor), Taşra (Fenerbahçe), Alkaralar (Gençlerbirliği), Kaplanpençe (Adanaspor), Kızıl Kabus (Altay), Gölkentliler (Van Spor). (AÖ/VK)