By Alexander Krassimirov
March 24 – Supporters and officials of Turkey’s Fenerbahce yesterday marched to Anitkabir – the tomb of the Turkish Republic’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk – in another “justice rally”.
The marchers were protesting against the conviction of Fenerbahce chairman Aziz Yildirim and fellow officials for alleged match-fixing. They claim that the club has been victimised as part of a political plot to remove Yildirim.
In particular fans have supported a secular state and have chanted ‘We are Mustafa Kemal’s soldiers’. Ataturk was the first president of Turkey and credited with being the founder of the Republic of Turkey.
The fans gathered in Ankara’s Tandogan Square and proceeded to Anitkabir. It is the second time supporters organised march. Last month, the club held a “justice rally” in Istanbul, following the Supreme Court of Appeals’ withholding the verdicts in a match-fixing case.
Yıldırım and fellow officials were found guilty of attempting to manipulate games in the 2010-2011 championship. Yıldırım was sentenced to a six-year, three-month jail term for attempting to manipulate football games and forming an unarmed gang. The sentence was approved by the Turkish Supreme Court of Appeals in January.
The fans chanted slogans “Justice for Turkey, justice for Fenerbahce” and “Light a torch for justice” during the march to Ataturk’s mausoleum.
The club’s Twitter account said that Yildirim had written in his personal notebook an oath of allegiance to Ataturk saying: “I promise you, Fenerbahce will be the last light on earth fighting against the darkest powers that want us to forget your revolution”.
Yıldırım has made one further appeal to the Constitutional Court against his sentence.
Yildirim has been chairman of Fenerbahce for 13 years during which time the club won five league titles. The club’s last title was in the controversial 2010/11 season.
He has attracted support for his case from football fans across the country who hold the same political beliefs. Many joined the March on Sunday though no exact figure of the numbers who marched have been released. So far the protests have been peaceful.
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