Daughter of Turkish martial arts federation official joins championship as competitor and referee

Duvar English

The daughter of the deputy chairman of the Turkey Wushu Federation (TWF) has joined the country's martial art championship as both a competitor and a referee, in violation of the sports rules.

A panel also awarded Elif Akyüz, the daughter of TWF deputy chairman Abdurrahman Akyüz, with the tournament’s championship. Akyüz’s mother was amongst the panel’s judges, daily Birgün reported.

According to the guidelines of the sport, someone who participates in a match as a referee cannot compete in the sport for one year, or they will face disciplinary action.

“Prior to the COVID-19 epidemic, my friends and I filed a lawsuit against Abdurrahman Akyüz for his injustices and to protect our rights. During this process, we were exposed to various insults from him and his family. We were called 'traitors' and ‘Gülenists,'” said Wushu National Team athlete Mustafa Seçkin Çelik.

The government refers to followers of the U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen - the group widely believed to have plotted the failed July 15, 2016 coup attempt - as the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ). The government and its supporters routinely use this label as an insult and castigate people as members of the movement without evidence as to smear their reputation.

The TWF had previously come under fire for excluding and discriminating against European Wushu champion Sadık Pehlivan on the grounds that he was a member of Turkey's Alevi minority.