Ultranationalist leader faces backlash after threatening to remove Amedspor from Turkish leagues

Ultranationalist Victory Party leader Umit Ozdag has sparked controversy and faced backlash from supporters and directors of Amedspor, the football team of Turkey’s Kurdish majority Diyarbakir, after he pledged he would prevent the football team from participating in Turkey’s future leagues.

While visiting a promotional stand in Turkey’s western Bursa province Ozdag declared to the crowd, "I promise you that there will be no team called Amedspor in Turkish leagues. Diyarbakırspor will take its place, but we will not allow Amedspor."

The fans of Bursaspor, the football team of Bursa are known for their ultranationalist reactions to Kurdish supporters of Amedspor. In their latest match in Bursa, Amedspor players and fans were attacked and subjected to racist hostility.

Ozdag had earlier said the ranks of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) were "full of murderers."

The statement has prompted Amedspor to issue a response, with the club’s vice president Omer Elaldi taking to Twitter to express his frustration.

In his tweet, Elaldi invited Ozdag to come to Diyarbakır to see the team for himself and added, "If you dare to mention my team's name again, wash your mouth seven times with dirt and rinse with water before speaking it again," Elaldi said.

Amedspor is a football club based in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakır. The team has a strong following among the city's Kurdish population and has been at the center of controversy and political pressure in recent years. In 2018, the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) issued a one-year ban against the team after they played a friendly match in Germany against a team composed of Kurdish players, which was seen as a political statement against Turkey's treatment of Kurds.

In response to the TFF's decision, Amedspor fans staged protests across the country, and the team received widespread support from international football organizations and human rights groups. Despite the ban being lifted after one year, Amedspor has continued to face scrutiny and pressure from Turkish authorities.