At a recent match between Amedspor and Sakaryaspor at Istanbul Olympic Stadium, a group of Sakaryaspor fans wore masks of Mahmut Yıldırım, codenamed ‘Yeşil,’ a notorious Turkish deep state agent known for his involvement in extrajudicial killings of Kurdish dissidents and leftists during the 1990s.
The use of these masks, widely circulated on social media by Amedspor supporters, has led to renewed calls for the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) and judicial authorities to address hate speech and provocation in sports.
Amedspor, representing the predominantly Kurdish city of Diyarbakır (Amed), has frequently been a target of nationalist and anti-Kurdish sentiments. The provocative act of wearing ‘Yeşil’ masks follows previous incidents, such as in 2023, when Bursaspor fans displayed posters of Yıldırım during a match against Amedspor, sparking outrage from Kurdish communities and human rights organisations.
The display of ‘Yeşil’ masks comes amidst ongoing tensions surrounding Amedspor’s presence in Turkish football. In November 2023, the family of Ayten Öztürk, a Kurdish woman who was abducted and tortured to death by Yıldırım in 1992, pressed charges against Bursaspor supporters for glorifying her killer during a match. Hıdır Öztürk, Ayten’s father, expressed his distress at seeing the posters, stating that “the killer is known, but justice has not yet been served”. The family’s lawyer, Cihan Söylemez, stated that these acts are not mere hooliganism but “put dynamite in the fraternity of the peoples of Turkey”.
JİTEM (Gendarmerie Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism), the paramilitary group associated with Yıldırım, has been implicated in numerous human rights abuses and extrajudicial killings in the Kurdish-majority southeastern provinces during the 1990s. Despite calls for justice, many perpetrators of these crimes remain unpunished.
Amedspor has long been a focal point of controversy due to its association with Kurdish identity. After changing its name to ‘Amed’ — the Kurdish name for Diyarbakır — in 2015, the club has faced escalating nationalist and racist abuse, sometimes leading to violence both on and off the field. In March 2023, a match between Bursaspor and Amedspor turned violent when Bursaspor fans hurled knives, bullets and other objects onto the pitch while chanting anti-Kurdish slogans.
In August 2024, Amedspor fans were attacked in Nevşehir, central Turkey, by a group of 20 individuals who objected to their wearing of Amedspor jerseys. The attackers reportedly used sticks, stones, and knives, resulting in three injuries. Following the attack, Amedspor demanded that those responsible be identified and punished, calling the assault a direct threat to social peace and coexistence.
Kurdish leaders and human rights advocates are urging Turkish authorities to take meaningful action against those inciting hatred and violence at football matches.
