Turkish police detain three football fans for unfurling Kurdistan flag

Duvar English

Turkish police detained three people who unfurled the flag of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) during a match between football teams Amedspor and Bursaspor in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır on Sept. 25.

The Diyarbakır Bar Association released a statement demanding the release of the three detainees. The association recalled that the flag is the official flag of the KRG recognized by the Iraqi Constitution.

“It is not possible to accept the detentions, the lynching campaign against the unfurling of a legitimate flag in the public arena and the investigation that was launched with its influence,” the association said.

The bar association recalled that the unfurling of the flag resulted in a lynching campaign on social media with a discourse full of hate and discrimination. “These discriminatory policies that instigate people into vengeance and hate in recent years and the understanding of impatience towards Kurdish symbols should be abandoned. And authorities should immediately release those detained with the framework of the investigation that has no legal basis.”

On Sept. 25, a football took place between Amedspor and Bursaspor at the Diyarbakır Stadium. A group of fans unfurled the flag of the KRG during the match. Afterwards, some social media posts started to target these fans. Eventually, the Diyarbakır Governor’s Office and then the Interior Ministry announced that an investigation was launched into the incident.