Hamdi Firat BuyukSarajevoBIRNFebruary 27, 202312:16Interior minister hints at tough response to football fans calling for the resignation of the government over its handling of the recent earthquake disaster.

Turkish Minister Threatens Fans Demanding Govt’s Resignation Over Quake Response

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu attends a ceremony at Mustafa Kemal Ataturk mauseloum in Ankara, 2 August 2018. Photo: EPA-EFE/STR

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu threatened fans of Fenerbahce and Besiktas football clubs that demanded the resignation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, accusing it of mismanagement of the recent quake disaster.

“Those who think we are burdened with earthquake issue should remember that we will raise our shields to a security issue,” Soylu said on Monday, hinting at the possible use of riot police against football fans. “No one should wrestle with us about the security of Turkey. That is my advice,” Soylu added.

Fans of Turkey’s two largest football clubs at Saturday and Sunday matches chanted for the resignation of the government.

“Lies, lies, lies. Tricks, tricks, tricks, It has been 20 years. Resignation!” tens of thousands of Fenerbahce fans chanted in the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in Istanbul at a Saturday match against Konyaspor.

On the other side of the Bosporus, Besiktas fans at a Sunday match against Antalyaspor chanted: “Government Resign!”

Mehmet Kasapoglu, Turkey’s sports minister, said that sport is not a political platform. “We will not allow provocations,” Kasapoglu said on Monday.

Devlet Bahceli, an Erdogan ally and leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party, MHP, urged the leaders of sports clubs to take action. Otherwise, he said the matches should be played without any fans, calling the chanting fans “unresponsible and unconscious”.

Turkey’s national football league restarted on February 25 after 21 days’ break following the February 6 disaster that has devastated Turkey’s south and southeastern provinces, killing more than 45,000 people and leaving millions without homes.

Since then, the government has faced harsh criticism over its response to the disaster and for not using the vast resources of the military on time.

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