tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799914692887174209.post2454963424127797774..comments2024-01-15T21:30:40.609+03:00Comments on Istanbul's Stranger: Dear Anonymous...Strangerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933997864575809110noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799914692887174209.post-84434123479359895362007-11-14T19:47:00.000+02:002007-11-14T19:47:00.000+02:00I remember hearing about that incident a lot when ...I remember hearing about that incident a lot when I first came here in 2001. Wasn't there a related incident of a British fan (I don't know if he was Leeds) also being stabbed in Taksim Square either the year before or the year after? I seem to remember a tale of drunkenness and a British guy who wiped his bottom with a Turkish flag, and he got killed.<BR/><BR/>When I first came here, most foreigners were still careful to stay home on games between Turkey and Britian-- it just didn't do to have a foreign face no matter what the outcome of the match was. There's still some self-congratulations in the media for any matches between Leeds and Turkish teams where no one gets killed...Strangerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933997864575809110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799914692887174209.post-9531468042618968812007-11-13T22:36:00.000+02:002007-11-13T22:36:00.000+02:00As an expat Brit living just outside Istanbul, per...As an expat Brit living just outside Istanbul, perhaps I can shed a little light on the 'I'd rather be a Paki than a Turk' comment. This comes from a shameful event that happened in 1998 or 99. Leeds United football team had come to Istanbul to play Galatasaray in a match for some European football championship or other (I'm not a football fan for reasons that will become clear). The Leeds fans had arrived a day or two before the match itself and got themselves well inebriated at the bars in the Taksim/ Beyoglu region of the city. A riot ensued in the course of which a Turkish fan was stabbed to death. Many fans were kept under police custody and sent home the next day issuing claims of police brutality. On their return to the UK they whipped a storm of protest against the Turks. Crowds gathered chanting the slogan in question to the tune of 'She'll be coming round the mountain'. Turks living in the UK, my wife included, had to keep a low profile. If I remember correctly the match was played without a crowd present.Gilberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09472953006976818794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799914692887174209.post-61019435529487252882007-11-12T22:33:00.000+02:002007-11-12T22:33:00.000+02:00Thanks for the link, R. I really was going to read...Thanks for the link, R. I really was going to read about it, but the little one hasn't given me much of a chance.<BR/><BR/>I was confused, actually, and not sure if the poster was being sarcastic (he or she also mentioned a polar bear genocide), as I was thinking of the ancient Assyrians. But just now when I read the Wikipedia article, I put it together that the Assyrians and the Süryani are the same people...Strangerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933997864575809110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799914692887174209.post-83104741951142205932007-11-12T17:03:00.000+02:002007-11-12T17:03:00.000+02:00The Assyrians were an ancient Christian minority l...The Assyrians were an ancient Christian minority living principally in southeastern Turkey and who were also subject to deportation and extermination during WW1. There remains a small number in and around Mardin.<BR/><BR/>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_genocideRichardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00926071911396827610noreply@blogger.com