AKP deputies visit Ankaragücü: 'It should not be subjected to a lynching campaign'

AK Party Ankara Deputy Fuat Oktay stated, "We should not subject MKE Ankaragücü, which is one of the building blocks of our Republic, to a lynching campaign."

Fuat Oktay and the accompanying AK Party Ankara deputies Jülide Sarıeroğlu, Kurtcan Çelebi, Zeynep Yıldız, Asuman Erdoğan, and Fethan Baykoç visited the MKE Ankaragücü Club at the Beştepe Facilities.

Following the visit, AK Party Ankara Deputy Oktay and MKE Ankaragücü Club President İsmail Mert Fırat made statements to the press.

"WE WILL CLOSELY FOLLOW THE PROCESS"

Fuat Oktay stated that an undesirable incident had occurred and that everyone was saddened, adding, "We are saddened as the entire Turkish sports community, the football community, and the entire Turkish public. What needed to be done has been done, but as Ankara deputies, we are here to express our well wishes to the MKE Ankaragücü management so that the sports community and our city do not suffer harm. As AK Party deputies, we are here to contribute to the unity, solidarity, and cohesion of the city. All necessary statements regarding this have already been made. The legal process of the incident is ongoing. The administrative dimension of the incident is also ongoing. The necessary statements were already made by the TFF yesterday. In the evaluation we made inside, we see that our MKE Ankaragücü management has some concerns regarding this. We see that there are some objections, and they have also made statements that they will go to the Arbitration Board. We will follow this process closely."

"TURNING IT INTO A LYNCHING CAMPAIGN IS AN APPROACH THAT WILL HARM OUR SPORTS COMMUNITY"

Expressing that there are intense demands to enact a new law whenever a problem arises, Oktay noted the following:

"Work on this issue is already being carried out and will continue to be carried out both in our parliament and by our relevant ministries. This law, regarding the prevention of violence on the pitch, had just been enacted. There is also a cultural and social dimension to the incident. We believe that this is where we should draw those lessons together. In other words, as all stakeholders of football—our sports clubs, the Union of Clubs, the TFF, referees, the media, sports figures, coaches, and footballers—I believe we can overcome this together. This is something that is possible through education. Targeting a single club over a single incident and turning it into a lynching campaign is actually an approach that will harm our sports community again."

"NECESSARY MEASURES MUST BE TAKEN"

Emphasizing that MKE Ankaragücü has a 113-year history, Oktay assessed, "Ankaragücü is a club founded by the workers, masters, and students of the time from the İmalat-ı Harbiye (Military Factory), and it is a club that participated in the War of Independence. We should not subject MKE Ankaragücü, which is one of the building blocks of our Republic, to a lynching campaign. Just as we must keep every club alive, it is necessary for MKE Ankaragücü, as a club integrated with Ankara, to emerge from this without harm, for new opportunities to be created, and for the necessary measures to be taken to prevent violence."

Fuat Oktay concluded his words as follows:

"As AK Party deputies, we have already expressed that we stand with them on the political level, that we stand with the sports community, and that violence in sports and on the pitch must be eliminated in every aspect. I would like to express here that we will stand by MKE Ankaragücü, the sports community, and all our clubs as much as we can until the end, and that we will strive to do whatever falls to us to the end."

MKE Ankaragücü Club President İsmail Mert Fırat thanked the deputies for their visit and stated that they would object to the penalties imposed on MKE Ankaragücü by the Professional Football Discipline Committee (PFDK), saying, "We will go to the Arbitration Board regarding the process and use our legal rights. We will follow the subsequent process. We also thank our esteemed president for his visit. We will be followers of the process."

On the other hand, MKE Ankaragücü Manager Emre Belözoğlu and team captains Ali Sowe, Uros Radakovic, and Atakan Çankaya also thanked the deputies for their visit.