Fans of Turkey’s national soccer team booed during the one minute of silence for the victims of the Paris attacks at the beginning of a match against Greece on Tuesday.
The minute of silence was observed throughout European leagues to honor the victims since the Islamist attackers struck on November 13 killing 129 people in Paris.
It was the first time the Turkey played Greece in eight years due to stress between the two nations.
As a show of unity, both Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras watched the match together, but that show of unity didn’t help quash the Turkish fans—many of whom are Muslims—from booing the honor paid to the victims of ISIS terror.
The UEFA, Europe’s governing soccer body, has requested that each game start with the memorial to the fallen. In keeping with this request, one observed at the beginning of many other matches in Britain and across Europe, the moment of silence for Paris also led the game in Istanbul. But some Turkish fans loudly booed instead of respectfully staying silent.
There were also fans cried out “Allahu akbar” during the moment of silence, as well.
Thus far, this 0-0 game seems to be the only one that the minute of silence has been disrupted by unruly fans.
The incident was chronicled by several on social media.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.