Intervention against Amedspor's Diagne for waving Senegal flag

A brief moment of tension occurred on the pitch following the Iğdır FK match that secured the promotion of Diyarbakır representative Amedspor to the Super Lig. Security forces intervened when they mistook the Senegalese flag that player Diagne attempted to wave for a symbol of the PKK terrorist organization.

As the match ended, Diagne, who wanted to celebrate, headed to the middle of the pitch to wave the Senegalese flag he had brought with him. At that moment, the security detail of Iğdır Police Chief Niyazi Turgay and security branch teams intervened and stopped the player. Despite Diagne explaining that the flag belonged to his own country, the intervention continued for a while.

Amedspor star Diagne waved the Senegal flag.

The police thought it was a PKK flag. pic.twitter.com/pG3Vg4phdO

— Toplumsal Muhalefet (@toplumuhalif13) May 4, 2026

DEM Party Diyarbakır MP Serhat Eren, who witnessed the moments and intervened in the situation, stated in his remarks to Amida Haber that the incident stemmed from a misunderstanding. Eren explained that the security forces confused the colors on the flag with a different symbol and said the following:

"When I saw some of our friends heading toward the pitch after the match, I went there as well. Diagne went toward the middle of the pitch with the flag in his hand, sat on his knees, and tried to wave the Senegal flag. At that moment, the security branch director and the police walked toward the Amedspor player. They thought the symbol being displayed was a PKK flag. They did not allow him to wave his own country's flag. The police persistently tried to seize the flag in Diagne's hand. We stepped in and tried to explain the situation to the Police Chief. We told the Chief that it was not a PKK symbol, but the Senegal flag. After our discussions, the issue was resolved before it could escalate."