Turkey Football Teams Observes Minute Silence for Paris Attack Victims, Fans

One tweet from Reuters correspondent Ece Toksabay said a few fans were chanting “Allahu akbar” as well.

The UK’s Independent reports that a few are claiming the boos were not to disrespect those who had died in the attacks – but had more to do with the precieved hypocrisy of the Western world.

Spectators also booed during the singing of the Greek national anthem before the match.

Turkey coach Fatih Terim, however, criticised the fans afterwards on TV8.

“”If this happened to us, we would be devastated.””.

“Where did this whistling come from?”

“We will move ahead with our efforts to encourage the two communities (on Cyprus) to reach a just and viable solution”, Tsipras said. “This does not suit us at all”, he added.

The behavior in Başakşehir was in stark contrast to the scenes at London’s Wembley Stadium, where English and French fans both sang the Marseillaise before the match before studiously observing the minute of silence. Turkey and Greece were meeting on the football pitch for the first time in eight years as part of efforts to improve neighbourly relations, with the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu in attendance.

The incident drew widespread condemnation outside of Turkey. “Turks do not care about the Paris attacks”, Greece’s Protathlitis daily wrote in an editorial.

Thus far, this 0-0 game seems to be the only one that the minute of silence has been disrupted by unruly fans.

Turkish supporters attending an global football friendly against Greece on November 17 refused to participate in a minute of silence following the recent jihadist attacks on France, choosing instead to boo the commemoration.