Aykut Demir caused a stir last weekend. The Turkish Dutchman, born in Bergen op Zoom and ex-player of NAC and Excelsior, was the only player of Erzurumspor who did not wear a T-shirt with “No to war” for the match against Ankaragücü.
Vincent Van Genechten
Demir is the captain of the Turkish second division team, which made his action all the more remarkable. While his teammates wore the T-shirt during the warm-up and the team presentation, the 33-year-old defender was on the field in his normal outfit.
Here is inserted content from a social media network that wants to write or read cookies. You have not given permission for this.
After the storm of criticism, Demir had no choice but to react. And apparently he had a good reason not to wear the T-shirt.
“Thousands of people die every day in the Middle East,” the defender told Football Anatolia. “I also feel sad. I share the pain of many innocent people. But those who ignore the persecution of people in the Middle East are now taking these actions when it comes to Europe. So I didn’t feel like wearing that T-shirt because it’s not done for other countries.”
