Former footballer Şükür to re-run for parliament

ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency

“Turkey is in a circle of fire. Hard days are ahead. To bring water to this fire as an ant is not only our duty, but everyone’s duty,” Şükür said. AA Photo

Hakan Şükür, a former professional football player and an independent deputy currently in parliament, applied on April 6, to run for parliament as an independent deputy from Istanbul.

Şükür, who is a close follower of U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, said he applied to run for parliament in order to “help the nation during its difficult times,” speaking in front of Istanbul’s Çağlayan Courthouse after he filed a petition to become an independent candidate in the June 7 elections. 

“Turkey is in a circle of fire. Hard days are ahead. To bring water to this fire as an ant is not only our duty, but everyone’s duty,” he added. 

Şükür was elected as a deputy in the June 12, 2011 general elections for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), but he resigned from the party a day before Turkey’s biggest corruption case was launched on Dec. 17, 2013, during which four former ministers and their sons were investigated. 

Şükür, the former Galatasaray, Inter Milan and Blackburn Rovers soccer player, announced his resignation from the AKP in a statement released on the evening of Dec. 16, 2013. 

“For over 20 years, I have known and loved the Hizmet [Service] movement,” Şükür said in his statement at the time. “To treat these people, who have staunchly supported the government in every issue ... as enemies is nothing but ingratitude at best.”