TURKEY: VISITING PANATHININAIKOS SOCCER FANS CLASH WITH LOCAL TURKS IN ISTANBUL'S CITY CENTRE

Record ID: 640688

  • Title: TURKEY: VISITING PANATHININAIKOS SOCCER FANS CLASH WITH LOCAL TURKS IN ISTANBUL'S CITY CENTRE
  • Date: 1st November 2002
  • Summary: (W6) ISTANBUL, TURKEY (NOVEMBER 01, 2002) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TAKSIM FIRST AID HOSPITAL (2 SHOTS) POLICE IN FRONT OF THE HOSPITAL (2 SHOTS) VARIOUS OF GREEK FANS IN POLICE CUSTODY (3 SHOTS) PAN: GREEK FAN LEAVING HOSPITAL SV: WOUNDED GREEK FAN, APERGIS GEORGIS LEAVING HOSPITAL SV: POLICE SV: GEORGIS IN CAR LEAVING
  • Embargoed: 16th November 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Crime,General,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA248S8M40PVSQOWAG5DVMZUHU8
  • Story Text: Visiting Greek soccer fans have clashed with Turks in Istanbul's city centre a day after a soccer match billed as a showcase of warmth between the two neighbours was overshadowed by violence.
    Witnesses in central Istanbul said fighting broke out between visiting fans of the Athens football club Panathinaikos and local Turks as the Greeks were gathering to leave in buses for the airport.
    A number of men on both sides were lightly injured from blows to the head and thrown stones.
    Police moved in rapidly to cordon off the streets around a hotel near Taksim square to get the Greeks onto buses.
    Omer Karaaslan, a staff member at the Nippon Hotel, told Reuters by telephone that the fans were drunk and smashed everything up. He said shop windows in the area had been broken in the scuffles.
    Local shop owner Hamet Gultepe said "If the clash had lasted for 5 minutes more, all the shop would have been damaged. We saved our lives at the last moment. Also me and my friends lives could have been in big danger."
    The Greek fans and supporters of local side Fenerbahce had clashed the night before at the UEFA Cup match, which ended in a 1-1 draw. The two sides will meet again in Athens on November 14 for the second leg of the tie.
    The violence is a blow both to diplomatic efforts to overcome years of bad blood between the neighbours and to sporting efforts to jointly host the 2008 European soccer championships in the two countries.
    Turkey and EU member Greece began a tentative process of reconciliation after earthquakes hit both nations in 1999 but a range of disputes remain, most notably over the status of the divided island of Cyprus.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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