After a brawl on the football field between the female players of Fenerbahçe, a very popular Turkish sports club, and Amedspor, the major sports club of Turkey’s Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakır (Amed), some Twitter users launched a campaign on social media asking for Amedspor to be dissolved.
Following the incident on the field, it quickly turned into a ‘witch hunt’ against Amedspor player Sultan Demir, and the hashtag #amedsporkapatılsın (close Amedspor) followed.
While some Twitter users posted accusatory messages about Amedspor and others called upon Turkish authorities to close the club, many shared supportive hashtags like #AmedsporOnurumuzdur (Amedspor is Our Dignity) and #AmedsporHalktır (Amedspor is the People).
Also on Tuesday, the Kurdish hashtag #Rojbaş (Good Day) became one of the top 10 TTs in Turkey, with many posts under it supporting Amedspor.
What happened
On Saturday in the game in Diyarbakır, 90 minutes ended with the score of 1-1. However the referee gave 7 minutes extra time. Amedspor deputy chair Cahit Akın describes what happened next:
“Although the extra time was over, the referee did not end the game and at 90+10 gave our competitor a penalty and this led to us losing the game.”
Akın added:
“The incident took place in front of everyone. The bad thing is, although the police and the federation’s officials were there, it was presented on the social media as if we were responsible for what happened. This is very upsetting and dangerous.”
Player personally targeted
Sultan Demir, whose name has been all over social media and who has been turned into a target, said that the club have been subjected to similar attacks in the past. She said:
“We will not be intimidated. I have been playing in Amedspor for 13 years. I do not want to play in another team. We are not afraid.”