The 15th anniversary of the 3 July plot

Some mornings the sun rises but the light never comes.

3 July 2011 was exactly that kind of morning for Turkish football.

That morning, doors were knocked on, cameras rolled, and headlines were written. Verdicts were delivered before courts were even convened. People were declared guilty before evidence was debated. Football left the green pitch and moved onto television screens and newspaper front pages.

And the heaviest burden was borne by millions of Fenerbahçe supporters.

Today, 15 years have passed since that day.

Calendars have changed. Chairmen have changed. Players have changed.

But 3 July has not changed.

Because for Fenerbahçe, 3 July is not merely the day an investigation began; it is the starting point of one of the greatest existential struggles in the club's history.

At the very forefront of that struggle stood the club's chairman at the time, Aziz Yıldırım.

He was arrested. He spent months in prison. Serious charges were levelled against him. Yet he did not back down. Through letters he sent from prison, he addressed the Fenerbahçe community, saying the club would never surrender. The chairman who became synonymous with the phrase "Fenerbahçe Republic" transformed in the eyes of supporters from a mere administrator into a symbol of the club's resistance.

Years later, the legal process reached a different point. Some rulings handed down in the initial trials were overturned; retrials were held and acquittals were issued. During the same period, separate cases were opened against certain individuals who had played roles in the investigation and proceedings, and convictions were handed down. These developments deepened the debate over how the 3 July process had been conducted.

Yet the law, even when it eventually reaches the truth, cannot bring back lost time.

Seasons lost…

Years shut out of European competitions…

A reputation damaged…

Economic losses…

And most importantly, people's trust in justice…

None of these have been fully compensated.

A sentence Aziz Yıldırım repeated over the years still lives in the memory:

"Even if we stand at the gallows, our last word is Fenerbahçe!"

Whether you agree with those words or not, the undeniable truth is this: the 3 July process became one of the defining ruptures that split Fenerbahçe's history in two. After that day, neither the club, nor its supporters, nor Turkish football was ever the same.

In the memory of the Fenerbahçe community, Aziz Yıldırım has secured his place not merely as a chairman who won trophies, but as a leader who stood at the helm of the club during its darkest period, refused to back down, and paid a price for it. For a significant portion of supporters, his struggle was not only a legal one but also a fight to protect the club's independence and reputation.

Looking back today, what is needed is not to magnify old scores but to draw lessons from that process.

Because the law gains meaning only when it serves as a guarantee for everyone.

The presumption of innocence, the right to a fair trial, and the rule of law are not merely the pillars of courtrooms — they are the fundamental pillars of democracy itself.

Fifteen years have passed.

But some dates are never forgotten.

3 July is one of them.

Because that date does not only speak of the past.

It makes us question the present.

And it leaves the future with this question:

Has Turkish sport — and Turkey itself — truly drawn the necessary lessons from a process that left such a deep mark on the memory of a club, a chairman, and millions of supporters?

What could Fenerbahçe have achieved, given that its value had reached 1.8 billion euros before the plot?

The 15 years that have passed have not caused people to forget what happened. On the contrary, they have made this struggle — etched into collective memory — one of the most widely discussed turning points in Turkish sports history.

To speak of 3 July without acknowledging the organisation behind this process would be to leave out a significant chapter of history.

Over the years, court rulings and retrials gave rise to serious debate about the manner in which the 3 July investigation was conducted. Subsequently, cases were opened against certain individuals affiliated with the structure of FETÖ — designated as a terrorist organisation by the state — within the police and judiciary, on account of their actions during this process, and convictions were handed down. These developments led to 3 July being assessed not merely as a sports investigation but as part of a broader struggle in Turkey's recent history.

The Fenerbahçe community, from the very beginning, maintained the view that this was not simply a legal battle but an organised operation targeting the club. 

Today, looking back 15 years on, 3 July is not just a football case file. It also stands as a historical lesson demonstrating how vital it is that the independence of the judiciary, the right to a fair trial, and state institutions are never exploited by any organisation.