Turkish group attacks Kurdish football team

According to videos published on social media, a group gathered in front of the Amedspor players in Bursa and chanted racist slogans against the players.

The moment of the attack, March 5, 2023. (Photo: Amedspor/Twitter)
The moment of the attack, March 5, 2023. (Photo: Amedspor/Twitter)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Sunday, a football team from the Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, Amedspor, was attacked by a racist group during a match in Bursa against Bursaspor, according to a tweet by Amedspor Club.

According to videos published on social media, a group gathered in front of the Amedspor players in Bursa and chanted racist slogans against the players.

Also, Amedspor tweeted that a group of Bursaspor fans gathered in front of the players' hotel in Bursa at 2:45 pm last night, chanting racist slogans and targeting the hotel with fireworks.

The football club players, from the recent earthquake areas, called on the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) to take necessary actions against these aggressive acts.

Amedspor has been the target of dozens of attacks by Turkish hooligans in the past several years.

Police raided the team’s headquarters in 2016 during an urban warfare between Kurdish rebels and Turkish government forces in several provinces.

One of its players, German-Kurdish striker Deniz Naki frequently came under attacks by racists in Turkey and was detained by police at least once on the grounds of insulting President Tayyip Erdogan. The TFF also banned him for his vocal criticism of the Ankara government before he left the country this year.