The soccer club of Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality held an extraordinary congress, changing its name to Amedspor, referring to the Kurdish name of Diyarbakır province.
The congress also adopted a new logo for the club - the double headed eagle figure which is found in the ancient walls of Diyarbakır.
38 years, 5 names
Established on 18 August 1976, the club was initially called Melikahmetspor.
In 1990, the name was changed to Diyarbakır Municipality Sports Club. In 1996, it was once again changed to Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality Diskispor.
And finally in 2010, the name was changed to Diyarbakır Municipality Sports Club.
Sports for peace
Club Co-President İhsan Avcı said that their mutual agreement was to change the club’s name to its historical roots of the city.
Ahmet Yıldırım, one of the club’s former administrators, underlined that most societies that lost their freedom expressed their understanding of freedom and peace through sports.
“Therefore, one of the first meanings of sports is peace,” he said. (YY/BM)
* Click here to read the article in Turkish and see the list of new team council.