Who put this black stain on Beşiktaş?

I am watching, but no one has raised a voice.

Where are the famous columnists, sports writers or sports commentators who are on TV all the time? I don’t know, maybe they are talking, but I haven’t yet heard them.

Where is Çarşı [the fanatic group of Beşiktaş supporters named for the famous Beşiktaş Market]? Çarşı, the supporter group that is loved by everyone because they always, regardless of who is in question, tell the truth, why are they quiet?

The decision of the UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations, is a disgrace for this 110-year-old club of ours. The justification for this decision is very simple: There has been open corruption in the club’s accounts.

The newly elected president of the club, poor Fikret Orman, is tearful. He does not know what to do. He himself has nothing to do with this incident. Probably, if he had known that the club had slid this much, maybe he would not have run for its presidency. Nowadays, he is calculating how to save Beşiktaş, which has been suspended from European cup competition for one year for a disgraceful offense. He is exerting every effort, together with his supporters. Moreover, he is extremely justified. What is important is not that the right to play in the European cups has been lost, but the loss of prestige for the club with the white and black colors.

Orman is in a desperate situation. God knows he has not openly blamed those who are really responsible. He has maintained his gentlemanly behavior. He has accepted the role of carrying the whole load on his shoulders. The former administration, though, who put Beşiktaş in this situation, has taken shelter. The person who must be considered responsible, Yıldırım Demirören, is still heading the Turkish Football Federation (TFF), and he does not seem to care. He does not say anything. As the head of the federation, he is leading our entire football family.

Well, he shouldn’t anymore. He should not be allowed to.

Çamlıca should be stripped of its freakish antenna towers and stay green
I am not opposed to the third bridge on the Bosphorus, or to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s “crazy project,” nor am I at all opposed to the building of a new mosque for Istanbul.

No offense, anyone, but I do not agree with the mosque project to be located on top of Çamlıca hill, which is planned to be so big that it would be visible from all parts of Istanbul.

Almost every part of Istanbul is full of mosques. No one can claim that Istanbul residents have difficulty meeting their religious needs. What’s more, reaching a giant mosque to be located on Çamlıca would require a special effort. No one lives close to the hill. For transportation, roads would have to be opened, a cable car would need to be built. It is highly likely that it would be full when the prime minister visits from “Friday” to “Friday,” or by families seeking recreation on the weekends. A section of the trees on this vast green field of about 15,000 square meters will be cut down. Roads will be built; poles will be erected. Before erecting a giant mosque, wouldn’t it be nicer if those freakish antenna towers at the top of Çamlıca were cleared out of the way, and the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality were to build one tower to replace all of them, making the area an entirely recreational place with parks and gardens?

Istanbul has become a cement jungle. When we need even a five-square-meter green field, why would we destroy such existing scarce greenery as there is? It is beyond my comprehension.