Expulsion of senior Fenerbahçe member demanded for being HDP deputy

During the club’s general financial meeting, member Ahmet Şükrü said he had given a petition to the general council board, demanding the expulsion of club member and HDP Istanbul deputy Celal Doğan for being “an MP for a party that engages in activities against the country’s inseparable unity.” 

After receiving the petition, Fenerbahçe Club Council head Vefa Küçük said consideration of it was not their job but the job of the board of directors. 

Fenerbahçe Deputy Chairman Şekip Mosturoğlu, meanwhile, said they would consider the petition at the board and would also listen to Doğan to reach a “democratic solution.” 

Apart from his Fenerbahçe membership, Doğan is a well-known politician who was elected as the mayor of Gaziantep in three consecutive elections from 1989 to 2004. Before joining the HDP ahead of the June 7, 2015 parliamentary election, he was a member of the Republican People’s Party (CHP). 

Doğan also served as the president of Gaziantep Sports Club between 1993 and 2006, winning praise for his contribution to the team’s rising profile in the Turkish football leagues and European cups.