Fans wearing Mahmut Yıldırım masks detained
During the Sakaryaspor-Amedspor match, Sakaryaspor fans sparked major backlash by wearing masks of Mahmut Yıldırım while filming a video. Following these images, it was reported that 11 Sakaryaspor fans were detained.
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Sakaryaspor and Amedspor football teams faced each other in the TFF 1st League in Istanbul. Before the match, which ended 0-0 at the Istanbul Esenyurt Necmi Kadıoğlu Stadium, 11 people from the Sakaryaspor fan group ‘Tatangalar’ filmed a video while wearing masks of Mahmut Yıldırım, who was linked to numerous unsolved murders in the 1990s. The images, which spread rapidly on social media, drew widespread condemnation.
Following the backlash, security forces took action, and the fans identified as wearing Mahmut Yıldırım’s masks were detained in an operation.
While no official statement has been made by the police yet, some Sakaryaspor fans who wanted to support the detained individuals spent the night in front of the police station.
'I HOPE THEY REALIZE THEIR MISTAKE'
CHP Sakarya Deputy Ayça Taşkent, in her statement regarding the incident, said, "The green of Sakaryaspor is the green of hope, struggle, peace, unity, and togetherness. Our city is not the city of the dirtiest unsolved murder hitmen of these lands; it is the city of Sait Faik, who said 'beauty will save the world.' I hope our youth realize the mistake they have made."