|
Turkish Government rejects proposal to
save mostly Kurdish city's team of Diyarbakir
10.5.2006
|
|
|
|
ANKARA, Turkey
(AP) - Turkey's sports minister dismissed opposition
calls to stop a club from the mostly Kurdish city of
Diyarbakir from being relegated.
Deniz Baykal, the leader of the centre-left
Republican Peoples' Party had called on the
government to prevent Diyarbakirspor from being
dropped, saying the team's continued presence in
Turkey's top league was important for "peace and
brotherhood" in the country.
Baykal, backed by some government lawmakers, also
suggested that the relegation system be scrapped.
However, sports minister Mehmet Ali Sahin rejected
Baykal's suggestion on Wednesday, saying
intervention would harm the spirit of competition
and accused the opposition leaders of engaging in
"political populism."
With just one week of the season left,
Diyarbakirspor is bottom of the standings and
certain to be demoted. The club blamed its
predicament on a series of "unjust" referee
decisions but said it did not want special
treatment.
"Relegation is Diyarbakir's problem," club spokesman
Aziz Golcuk said Wednesday. "If it wants to return
to the top league, it will have to build a strong
team. We want the discussions to end because Turkish
soccer will be the one to suffer the most from
these."
The team is from the largest city in the
impoverished, mainly Kurdish southeast, where
Kurdish rebels have been fighting for autonomy for
the past two decades.
The team's presence in the top league was a source
of great pride and observers, including Baykal, said
it helped reduce tensions there.
"No one should speak about rules, principles,
federations," Baykal said Tuesday. "What is
important is Turkey's peace and brotherhood.
All measures required for peace and brotherhood have
to be taken."
AP
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 