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Turkish police are being proactive ahead of the big
European final, says Gareth Jenkins in Istanbul
ISTANBUL: THE TURKISH police have confirmed
they will be in contact with Scotland Yard to
co-ordinate security and identify known
troublemakers in the run-up to the final in
Istanbul.
They have, however, played down fears of a repeat of
the violence of April 2000, when two Leeds fans were
killed and more than a dozen injured after clashing
with Turkish supporters on the eve of a Uefa Cup tie
with Galatasaray. They noted that there was no
history of animosity between Liverpool and Turkish
fans and said that, as no Turkish team was involved
in the final, they did not expect any
confrontations.
When England played in Turkey in October 2003,
Turkish police staged a major security operation.
Most of the fans were staying in hotels on the
European shore of Istanbul, while the match was held
at the Fenerbahce stadium in a built-up area on the
Asian side of the city.
Turkish police set up a security cordon around not
only the stadium but also the bridge and ports used
by the fans to travel from one side of the city to
the other. In contrast, the security operation for
this season’s Champions League group match between
Fenerbahce and Manchester United in the same stadium
was a relatively low-key affair and there were no
reports of any major incidents.
The Champions League final will be played at the new
Ataturk Olympic stadium on the outskirts of the
European side of the city, making it much easier for
police to secure both the stadium and the routes
from the hotels to the match.
These are tense times in Turkey. An urban bombing
campaign by Kurdish separatists has meant that bombs
have exploded or been discovered almost every day in
Istanbul over the past two weeks. Although they have
so far only caused minor injuries, the bombs have
further fuelled rising nationalist hysteria.
Last Thursday, a Korean tourist guide was beaten up
by a Turkish onlooker after apparently referring to
the southeast of Turkey as Kurdistan. Last month,
lynch mobs roamed the streets of several provincial
towns after reports that Kurdish nationalists had
burned a Turkish flag.
www.timesonline.co.uk
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