With a decision taken at the Municipal Council meeting held on September 6 by the DEM Party-run Kayapınar Municipality, the name of the Martyr Police Chief Ali Gaffar Okkan Sports Campus in the district was changed to 'Peace Sports Complex.'
Expressing his reaction to the decision in a post on his social media account, AKP Diyarbakır Provincial Chair Raşit Ocak stated that Gaffar Okkan was a figure who made great contributions to peace and sports for this city. In his post, Ocak included the following statements:
'IS IT POSSIBLE TO SEPARATE THE CONCEPTS OF PEACE AND SPORTS FROM GAFFAR OKKAN?'
“On behalf of my fellow citizens of Diyarbakır, I ask the DEM Party Mayor. Everyone who knows Diyarbakır knows how Martyr Police Chief Ali Gaffar Okkan integrated with this city. What logic justifies erasing this valuable name, who made great contributions to the city in terms of sports and social peace, from a sports complex? Is it possible to separate the concepts of peace and sports from Gaffar Okkan? Some people are trying to destroy the values of this ancient city. However, governing a city is not about playing politics through names; it is about producing services and innovation. Gaffar Okkan was a figure deeply attached to Diyarbakır and sports with great love and sensitivity. His name is the symbol of sports and youth in this city, and it should remain so.”
News Source: 12punto
