Notably, this is not in England which is known as the cradle of football, and most importantly, it is not when the British are playing against the Turkish national team. Abed starts saying, “I do not know why the British get so excited when they play against the Turks,” adding, “The Sun and The Daily Star (England’s popular newspapers) have been reporting for a week as if they are going to war. When you watch television, it is as if England cannot win this match and will never be able to play in the World Cup again.”
I interrupt and reply: “You know, two hooligans were killed in Istanbul… We were beaten 8-0 in the past… The matches with England are exaggerated in Turkey as well…” Saying, “No, no,” Abed continues, “None of the above. There is a bazaar in Istanbul. What is its name? Old Bazaar. Anybody, who has been there only once, will understand why the British overrate matches with Turkey. That bazaar had also been there hundreds of years ago. At that time, only a few feudal lords had palaces in London. The rest is pointless. Any Briton seeing that place understands how great a civilization the Turks established in the past and knows that he is playing against the grandchildren of that civilization and understands why there is such ostentation…”
One cannot know for sure how much of Abed’s comments are right. I would not want to drag football into the clash of civilizations theory debate. However, there is a common agreement here that the British people consider matches with Turkey as being more important than all the games with other teams. Whether it is a battle between the successors of the two biggest states in the last century or the revenge of Canakkale (Dardanelles), football is not just foot-ball.
The situation is the same for the Turkish people living in London. Most of the Turks are not workers as in Germany. So there
is no dominant depressed feeling of dejection in their souls. However, there is a feeling of exclusion because of not dominating the language and not assimilating into the culture. And also there is an identity crisis, which was caused by the Turkish Cypriots who came here before the Anatolian Turks, and it engulfs every Turk who steps foot in the airport. Beating England on the football field would have been considered as a solution not only to these crises, but also to that of exclusion. There had been preparations for days for the triumphant victory convoys to parade in the northern districts of London, which is mostly populated by Turkish people. During Galatasaray’s UEFA Cup triumph, the Kurds did not let our people go through their neighborhood… But they could not object during the last World Cup. It was being discussed what would happen this time. ‘The English police did not oppose. Flags were ready. Flag-red uniforms and T-shirts were ready. They would go through Stoke Newington, Wood Green, Islington and Manor House… Maybe they would go up to Enfield Town to stop by a street, which no one knows why its name is Turkey…’ and there was a Turkish diaspora dimension of the match that gave Turkey heartbeats; and a dimension of the Islamic world that gets enthusiastic with Turkey’s triumph on the field…A draw was not a bad result when the past records are considered. But the more past is considered, it is very bad. If football were just foot-ball, then it would have been said ‘the kids played very well’ and then forgotten, but it is not so. Within a short time that I have been in London, I have discovered that the concept of ‘football is equal to war,’ something I thought was peculiar to the East or the Third World, but in fact has universal dimensions.
This is the first indicator of the critical distance which I mentioned in my article, entitled ‘Archimedes Point’…
Two short notes: 1) You must have realized that I have not been writing my articles from the Middle East for two weeks. I will address you from London where I am for academic purposes. The length of my stay here will be determined by the requirements of being an academician. Until then, I will still remain as a commentator writing both officially and wholeheartedly from Jerusalem.
2) Master Ali Bulac’s article on anti-Semitism was one that should be noted in history. I have no doubt that the theory he underlined in that writing will soon be referred to in academic studies. Ali Bulac demanded the declaration of names in the Turkish media who are obsessed with anti-Semitism, referring to one of my old articles. For now, I will avoid such a declaration since I am concerned that it may harm Ali Bulac’s brilliant theory…
October 13, 2003
