The banners written "Long live Mustafa Kemal Pasha, long live!" were not allowed in the Turkish Super Cup Final Match between Beşiktaş and Konyaspor on August 6 on the pretext of 'unpermitted banner'. The fans entered the pitch at the end of the match, and reportedly attempted to attack some of Beşiktaş players.
Fans threw flares, litter and a knife onto the pitch and tore down the stadium's security netting as the match ended after a 90th minute penalty for Konyaspor in the Black Sea city of Samsun.
Fans of Besiktas, an İstanbul side whose supporters include a vocal leftist element, responded with a song popular among secular Turks, aimed at the rival fans from Turkey's conservative heartland. The two groups rushed onto the field and fought after the final whistle.
The banners written "Long live Mustafa Kemal Pasha, long live!" were not allowed in the stadium.
Against the slogans of Beşiktaş supporters, "Turkey is secular and will remain secular!", Konyaspor supporters, which are known for their pro-government stance, reacted by saying "Allahu Akbar". Supporters of Konyaspor chanted slogans accusing Beşiktaş and its fans of links to the armed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
During a national match in central Anatolian province Konya, the AKP’s Islamist and obscurantist supporters had previously protested the minute of silence kept for those who lost their lives in a terrorist attack carried out by Islamic State in Ankara in 2015.
Despite the disallowance of the banners written pro-secularism slogans, a jackknife, many flammable and explosive materials were thrown into the pitch during the rising tension in the match due to inadequate security measures. It has been learnt that the security of the stadium had lifted the X-Ray machine when the supporters queued almost 2-kilometer-long.
While the inspectors are assigned for the investigation of the events, provincial sports security councils will be met up on August 9.
Meanwhile, one of the Beşiktaş supporter groups 'Beleştepe' sent a solidarity message to the dismissed educators on hunger strike Nuriye Gülmen and Semih Özakça by unfurling a banner written, "Let Nuriye and Semih live!"
The best-known supporter group of Beşiktaş, "Çarşı", has made a statement on their social media account criticizing the security officers who banned the banners written "Long live Mustafa Kemal Pasha, long live!" and asked them if the knives, torches and sound bombs were at their control.
In the qualifying rounds of Champions League competition of another pro-government Turkish football team Başakşehirspor, the supporters had unfurled a banner written "Commander-in-Chief Tayyip Erdoğan".
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has been continuously attacking the sports especially since the June Resistance (Gezi Resistance) in 2013. During the June Resistance, many supporter groups of the sports clubs had shown a significant resistance against the government forces. The AKP tried to break this resistance by introducing a blacklisting policy named "Passolig" to keep these supporter groups under the control and political pressure. While the Turkish government has financially promoted their own sports club, it also puts the pressure on anti-government supporter groups.
