Erdogan’s political strategies in football

By Hasan Atieh
Source: Al Mayadeen English
28 Apr 2023 20:47
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long realized the importance of sports in the political marketing process and has seldom used it to his advantage.

Erdogan’s political strategies in football

The majority of politicians have acknowledged the significance of sports within the realm of political marketing. Sports is also greatly present in teaching curriculums in the fields of diplomacy and international and public relations. Obviously, football plays a greater role, being the most popular sport. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has taken advantage of that for many years.

Erdogan said back in 2017, that he was fully aware of the connection between politics and football, and that they share many aspects, adding that "politics and sports share the same essence, that being competitiveness.”

"Any team that plays without any plan, tactic, or strategy, has no chance of winning the cup. Politicians and political parties, who have nothing to show people, have no chance of success. Just like football, you cannot practice politics without passion, love, and dedication... and you have to dedicate yourself to it.", said Erdogan at the Turkish Football Association Conference.

There is no doubt that these words sum up a large part of Erdogan's political, social, and cultural ideology. They also portray what the sport means to the Turkish President in different aspects.

Erdogan: A passion without limits, politics and football in Turkey

The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was a football player at Kasımpaşa Sporif Club, which is where he initially gained his knowledge of football and all it entails. It seems that the Turkish President did not place his passion for football aside. He somehow knew that he would need this sport for his political career, as he rose from being a football player to becoming the mayor of Istanbul in 1994.

One must acknowledge the effect football has on Turkey as a country. Its passionate and ever-present fans represent all different social classes of the country.

Therefore, club associations headed by major Turkish football clubs Galatasaray SK, Besiktas JK, and Fenerbahçe SK, became the focus of the attention of Turkish political parties. At times, political parties sought to please and polarize large football clubs. At other times, they hoped to acquire their votes, and maybe avoided angering them.

These clubs form the backbone of society and are proactive in objecting to political power. This is what happened with Erdogan in 2013 when the fans of Besiktas and Fenerbahçe football clubs stood at the forefront of the protesters in Gezi Park. At that time, most Turkish cities witnessed demonstrations against him.

Back to Erdogan and his political-sports strategy, which started back in 1990, when the Başakşehir Club was established as an amateur team belonging to the Istanbul municipality in the Başakşehir region, in which the conservative middle class of the Turks is concentrated.

The team was led by a number of important personas, the most important of which was Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, from 1994 until 2000. During this period, the club was able to achieve progress after the club turned into an independent entity in Istanbul in 2014, headed by Göksel Gümüşdağ, who just happens to be related to Emine Erdogan, the wife of the Turkish president.

Erdogan's support for Başakşehir FK

Erdogan was a staunch supporter of Başakşehir and appeared several times wearing the team's shirt. The rapid progress of the team highlighted the Istanbul Suburb club in the eyes of its fans.

When Erdogan was Prime Minister, he established a stadium in the suburb of Başakşehir, which he called Fatih Tarim. One should take a moment to ponder the name of the stadium, as Fatih Tarim is known to be the “emperor” of football for the Turkish public, which will benefit Erdogan politically in the future.

At the opening ceremony of the stadium, Erdogan played and scored a hat-trick (3 goals in a row), wearing the new team shirt. The purpose of reviving and establishing the team was for political and economic purposes. The first goal was to pull the rug out from the ultras of Besiktas, because most of them have a liberal orientation, in addition to being among the first to participate in the "Gezi Park" protests.

Erdogan best football player 🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/7Yq2swFlGZ
— David Erhan ☦️🇹🇷 (@MedWhiteAcolyte) March 19, 2022

President Erdogan realized the importance of infiltrating these clubs, given their great ability to influence their surroundings, more specifically with their match chants.

For example, in 2019, during the Istanbul Başakşehir and Besiktas match, Besiktas fans chanted for Ekrem Imamoglu to be granted the mayoralty of Istanbul after he won local elections. The ruling party back then (Justice and Development) had objected to the election results which showed Ekrem's win.

"Give us the win, give Imamoglu the mayoralty," fans chanted in the presence of Ekrem Imamoglu, who was seated next to the club's president, on the platform of honor of the Turkish club.

Başakşehir fans or Erdogan's shield?

Because Başakşehir was a new team in the Turkish football arena, those in charge of it tried to attract big names such as Emmanuel Adebayor who played with them for a while. They had a goal of expanding their circle of fans, which was intended to protect Erdogan in some situations.

The year 2016 came and the coup attempt against Erdogan emerged. People then took to the streets to support their president. The first to support him during the coup were residents of Istanbul suburbs who are represented, in Turkish football, by the famous Başakşehir club.

On the other hand, in the same year, the Turkish authorities arrested about 30 people from the Fenerbahçe Club, who the government says are linked to Fethullah Gulen, who was accused of leading the coup attempt against the Turkish president at the time. The club then announced that what happened was an attempt at defamation of the club and its president.

Erdogan did not stop here but rather sought the approval of a number of laws related to preventing clubs from asking their fans to chant for the government’s resignation, in addition to the digital card law, which was approved, despite the corruption investigations issued against him.