Turkey’s finance chief calls football fans “Immoral”

Turkish Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati called Besiktas and Fenerbahce supporters who urged the government to resign over its response to the earthquakes, “immorals”.

“We are also fighting against immoral people while working”, Nebati said during a speech in earthquake-hit southwestern province of Sanliurfa on Monday, Diken reported.

“In such times, even though some people are pursuing political interests, resorting to purposeful provocations by engaging in unrealistic distortions and trying to bring politics into tribunes, we will protect our fortitude till the end and with the strength derived from our history and nation, we will protect our citizens and our country,” Nebati said.

Thousands of supporters of Besiktas and Fenerbahce, the two of Turkish football's biggest three clubs have protested government’s response to the Feb.6 earthquakes on the weekend during their teams’ games and chanted slogans for its “resignation”.

Following the fans’ protest, Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu threatened them with “shields of safety”, saying that "Those who think we are busy with earthquake response should not think that we will not raise our shields for safety.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ultranationalist governing ally MHP’s leader Devlet Bahceli also has resigned from his Besiktas membership and called on the two clubs to "urgently taking steps to play the games either without spectators or with the necessary precautions".