Fenerbahçe fans march to Anıtkabir for ‘justice’

ANKARA

The fans chanted slogans 'Justice for Turkey, justice for Fenerbahçe' and 'Light a torch for justice' during the march to Atatürk’s mausoleum located in Ankara. AA photo

Fenerbahçe fans and managers marched to Anıtkabir, the tomb of the Turkish Republic’s founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, in another “justice rally” on March 23.

The fans chanted slogans “Justice for Turkey, justice for Fenerbahçe” and “Light a torch for justice” during the march to Atatürk’s mausoleum located in Ankara.

Fans from all around the country gathered in Tandoğan square and marched to Anıtkabir. The club announced that there will not be any program following the visit to Anıtkabir in order to prevent any provocations.

“I promise you, Fenerbahçe will be the last light on earth fighting against the darkest powers that want us to forget your revolution,” Yıldırım wrote in the notebook in Anıtkabir, addressing Atatürk, according to the club’s Twitter account.

The club held a “justice rally” in Istanbul last month, following the Supreme Court of Appeals’ withholding the verdicts in a match-fixing case. Chairman Aziz Yıldırım and fellow officials have been found guilty of attempting to manipulate games in the 2010-2011 championship.

Fenerbahçe fans and officials, however, have claimed all throughout that the club was victimized as part of a plot seeking to dethrone Yıldırım.

Fans have pointed the finger at Turkey’s government and Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, and chanted, “We are Mustafa Kemal’s soldiers,” in games, to show support for the late President as a symbol of secularism.

Yıldırım’s six-year, three-month sentence for attempting to manipulate football games and forming an unarmed gang was approved by the Turkish Supreme Court of Appeals in January.

Yıldırım has applied to the Constitutional Court against his sentence, but if he loses the appeal, he will have to step down as the Fenerbahçe chairman after 13 years at the helm, where he oversaw five Turkish league titles. The last, however, came under scrutiny with the match-fixing case, which focused on the 2010-2011 Turkish championship.