Jeering fans protest Erdogan at Galatasaray stadium

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has denounced a group of football fans who jeered him and other high-profile state officials at the inauguration ceremony of Galatasaray’s long-awaited stadium, the Ali Sami Yen Sports Complex Türk Telekom Arena, Today’s Zaman reports.

According to the prime minister, the jeering fans were prejudiced and were far from grateful for the contributions of the Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKİ), and directly the state, to the new stadium. He said the Galatasaray Sports Club did not contribute, even a single penny, to the construction of the ultramodern stadium.

“Some keep saying that many contributed to the construction of the stadium. I am saying it very clearly. Galatasaray did not spend a penny on the construction of the stadium. The stadium was built by TOKİ. And it was assigned to Galatasaray for use,” Erdoğan stated on Sunday as he attended the inauguration ceremony of new crossroads, sports complexes and metro stations in İstanbul.

The prime minister also added that he was not offended at Galatasaray fans for the jeering. “All bad incidents we experienced there [at the stadium] belong to who organized them. I exclude Galatasaray and its supporters. I believe that Galatasaray was also disturbed by what happened,” he noted.

Hooligans did not jeer only the prime minister, but also jeered TOKİ President Erdoğan Bayraktar, Galatasaray Chairman Adnan Polat and even the visiting team, Ajax.

Citizens who listened to the prime minister’s speech at the Sinan Erdem Sports Complex in İstanbul yesterday also protested the hooligans and chanted in favor of Erdoğan, saying, “Turkey is proud of you!”

“We have never favored discrimination in our country, and we will never favor it. We will not favor acts of discrimination against individuals no matter what they do,” the prime minister continued. He also said TOKİ spent around 600 million liras when constructing the new Galatasaray stadium. “I believe that such a huge investment does not deserve jeering. But our nation will appreciate our efforts even if some do not,” he added.

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