Beyond Edirne: Football and the National Identity Crisis in Turkey

Abstract

Both the optimism and pessimism of Turkish society are reflected in the statement ‘Nowhere else in the world’. Many Turks will claim that their country’s natural beauties, hospitality, political scandals, outbreaks of public disorder, and perceived degeneration cannot be found in such intensity elsewhere in the world. Such claims are exaggerations usually reflecting an ignorance of other countries and cultures. But, as is frequently said, ‘The love for football in our country may be found nowhere else in the world’; such an assertion is worth considering. For Turkish people, the epitome of good football is the Brazilian style; similarly, the idealised form of football passion is Brazilian. Yet Turks visiting Brazil often return disappointed with the reality, airing the above familiar statement.¹ Indeed, one can ask is there any other country in which a World Cup qualifier against minnows San Marino could transform vibrant cities into dead ones for the duration of the game? In which other country is the ratio of active club supporters per capita so high?² Can another place be found where intellectuals, workers, peasants, ‘yuppies’, the rich and the poor, power elites and ordinary people spend so much time engrossed in football, and where around significant fixtures the whole country speaks only of football for days?