Being a Beşiktaş fan

In these days when decay is rampant in every field, I decided to write an article that you would enjoy. On November 24, Teachers' Day, I wanted to share another aspect of our Head Teacher, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, with you. How did I become a Beşiktaş fan? From time to time, I return to my childhood days. In the Dereboğazı settlement in Göcek, Fethiye, the Sırrın stream divides the area in two. One side is 'kızlan' and the other is 'bozlan'. Two different geological structures are separated by a mysterious stream. I could not find why it was named Sırrın or why it was called that. In fact, that is also a mystery. If you ask if it is talented, it is not. It does not even have enough water to build a hydroelectric power plant.

It seems it will keep its secret as long as the world exists. The 1950s, which I call my childhood years. I would cross the stream, which dried up in the summer, and fill a bucket with water from the stream flowing at the foot of the rocks that mark the beginning of the Taurus Mountains, which embrace the cave on the other side, and bring it home by crossing the Sırrın stream. A small child with a huge bucket of water. It was the most difficult moment of my childhood, but also the moment I was happiest when I succeeded—when I brought it without spilling the water.

Years later, after very dry summers, when my father brought water from 700 meters away in 'kızlan' through pipes, we played by the water for hours. I would share the arrival of the water with the neighborhood children, especially my cousins Osman Ugan and Ali Ugan. Our water has arrived... While chatting with those a few years older than me, their mention of "Beşiktaş" had caught my attention. In every meeting, the conversation would always turn to Beşiktaş and its players. My siblings and neighborhood friends were all Beşiktaş fans. Years passed, and I met my wife at Ege University. When she said, "We are Black and White as a family," I felt a different kind of joy.

I would mostly talk about Beşiktaş with my late father-in-law, Rıza Kaynar. One day, he asked, "Why do they call Beşiktaş the Black Eagle?" Then he would tell the answer with great enthusiasm. "The Black Eagle, that is, Beşiktaş, was founded by brave Circassians. The young people who laid the foundation of Beşiktaş are the common grandchildren of the two greatest warriors of the Caucasus Mountains, Kubilay Muhammed and Sheikh Shamil." "The title given to these two formidable warriors by the Caucasian peoples was the 'Caucasus Eagle.' In this context, it is never a coincidence that the Eagle was chosen as the symbol of Beşiktaş, whose founders were all of Circassian, Abkhaz, and Chechen origin." He would also say, "Beşiktaş is one of the three teams in our country that has a crescent and star on its flag."

The late Süleyman Seba, the Honorary President of Beşiktaş, was also a typical Circassian. The youth of Beşiktaş, which was founded on an ideal of independence, have provided great services in the past. Fuat Balkan, the member number one of BJK, was sent to India by the Ottoman Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa (Special Organization) to organize the Muslims of India against the British. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, with whom Fuat Balkan had close relations and served in the same cell, would years later leave India and found the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

In a compilation article published by the Yeniçağ newspaper on February 23, 2023, it is stated that Cami Baykurt, member number 21 and one of the founders of Beşiktaş, organized and led the Tripoli resistance. Mustafa Kemal, who participated in the Italo-Turkish War, may have felt sympathy and closeness to Beşiktaş, perhaps influenced and inspired by this organizer from Beşiktaş. I feel proud as I learn the history of Beşiktaş. Why shouldn't I! The first martyr pilots among the founders of Beşiktaş are Captain Fethi and Sadık Bey. Fethi Bey is also one of the founders of Beşiktaş. Like me, he graduated from the Naval Academy. In 1911, he was trained as an aircraft pilot at the Bristol factory in England.

Although they were master pilots, while performing an experimental flight between Istanbul and Cairo, they crashed into the ground from three hundred meters near the Simriye district of Syria and were martyred along with his assistant, Sadık Bey. The district where I was born, formerly known as Meğri, was named Fethiye in memory of Fethi Bey. When Zübeyde Hanım came to Istanbul from Thessaloniki, she lived in Beşiktaş. The administrators and fans of Beşiktaş would visit Zübeyde Hanım frequently during the War of Independence in Anatolia. They would also protect her against various attacks and arson attempts. In her conversations with her neighbors, Zübeyde Hanım would repeat, "I am glad I came to this district. My son entrusted me to the Beşiktaş team." While commemorating the heroes of Beşiktaş and our Head Teacher Atatürk, I offer my gratitude and respects to the teachers who raised us.