HOOLIGAN attacks involving some 500 APOEL fans, following a FIBA Eurochallenge basketball game against a Turkish team in Nicosia on Tuesday night, took on massive political proportions yesterday.
At around the stroke of midnight, the phone lines between Turkey, Athens, Brussels and both sides of the divide in Nicosia worked overtime as Turkey’s leaders did their best to get the Turkish team out of the government-controlled areas, which the Cyprus government prevented from happening.
The match saw Turkish team Pinar Karasiyaka, play against the APOEL team at the Tassos Papadopoulos Eleftheria Athletic Centre. The Cypriot team won without any disturbances throughout the match. However, as soon as the final whistle blew some 500 APOEL fans from the 2,000 people that attended the game, went on the rampage, throwing lighters and coins at the Turkish team bench.
Police escorted the Pinar Karasiyaka team to their locker room for safety. A mob of hooligans tried to storm the room, but were prevented by the police presence.
Police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said police managed to avoid the worst through “swift” and “decisive” action. The trouble then moved outside with hundreds of fans throwing rocks and stones at police and destroying stadium facilities. Police had to use tear gas to restore order.
“We called reinforcements but when they arrived they were also attacked, and one woman police officer was seriously injured in her eye,” said Katsounotos. Another four police officers also suffered minor injuries and were taken to hospital a little before midnight. He confirmed “there was no injury on the part of members of the Turkish team”.
According to Katsounotos, the Turkish team were then taken to the sports facilities at the GSP stadium where they remained the night under tight police security, until yesterday morning when they were escorted to Larnaca airport for their flight home via Athens.
Speaking to the CyBC after the event, a member of the Turkish team said: “After the game, terrible things happened. All the fans got on the court and attacked us with stones. To avoid them we had to go in the locker rooms.
“Our physiotherapist injured his finger during the trouble when fans started kicking and punching. There were a lot of people around, and they didn’t manage to do what they wanted. I saw someone with a knife.”
Three 15-year-old boys were arrested during the fracas. After questioning, police decided not to seek their remand. They are due to be released this morning.
Asked about how the events unfolded, Katsounotos said: “The hooligans attacked without cause and without provocation at the end of the game.”
“One reasonably wonders whether people understand the consequences of their actions to behave in this way,” he added.
President Demetris Christofias yesterday condemned the actions of the fans, calling them “so-called supporters, hooligans and mindless”.
Referring to the night’s events, he said: “This has created huge problems for the Cyprus Republic…They wanted to transport them to the occupied areas, we worked all night to prevent this and we prevented it.”
He warned that “we must not fuel Turkey’s propaganda with thoughtless actions”.
During the whole episode, the government came under serious pressure to allow the team to travel north and spend the night there.
APOEL chairman Prodromos Petrides said on CyBC last night: “It is unacceptable, but it is not because we are playing with a Turkish team. I think we have seen this on a much larger scale unfortunately in matches where our own teams are playing, so let’s not give the opportunity to the Turks to exploit such wrong actions on our part.”
Presidential Commissioner Georgios Iacovou and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart in the talks Kudret Ozersay had both turned up at the GSP Stadium at 12.30am to deal with the incident.
Citing sources, state broadcaster CyBC said Ozersay applied “intense pressure” on the government to let the Turkish team travel north.
According to reports, acting on the orders of Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish EU Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis called Athens and Brussels on Tuesday night in an effort to get the team out of the government-controlled areas.
Speaking to Turkish news agency Anatolu, Bagis said he spoke three times on the phone to Greek Foreign Minister Demetris Droutsas and twice with EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule. He also called former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat who reportedly tried unsuccessfully to convince Christofias to let the team pass.
“What happened last night showed that the spirit of 1974 still lives on the island. The behaviour of Cyprus in this incident should be monitored by the worldwide community and punished,” said Bagis.
The Turkish minister even found space for an Annan Plan reference, saying: “They (Greek Cypriots) said no to a solution and peace. We see that their position on (Tuesday night) does not differ from the one they showed in April 2004.”
A somewhat more sober interpretation of events was given on the night by Siner Tsinar, technical leader of Pinar Karasiyaka.
“It would not be true or objective to say that this is a problem between the two sides. This is sports life, it sometimes happens. But at the moment we are happy that everybody is safe, and we’re healthy,” said Cinar.
Meanwhile, on the team’s return to Turkey, Turkish Sports Minister Faruk Nafiz Özak confirmed that a complaint will be lodged with International Basketball Federation (FIBA). On a personal note, Özak clarified: “I do not even want to be part of the European Union with them (Cyprus).”
Pinar Karasiyaka Club President Hussein Caliskan vowed never to allow his team to play another game in Cyprus again.
Despite its late hour, the incident got a substantial amount of coverage in the Turkish and Turkish-Cypriot media with headlines used such as “Battlefield” and “The fanatics attacked”.
