Besiktas fans throw toys on to pitch for children affected by earthquake
\n ANKARA:
\nBesiktas fans called on the Turkish government to resign in terrace chants Sunday, throwing hundreds of soft toys onto the pitch in memory of child victims of the February 6 the earthquake.
\nThe protest, which took place during the match, follows that of fans from fellow Istanbul club Fenerbah\u00e7e at their stadium on Saturday.
\n\u201cGovernment, resign!\u201d was the chant as Besiktas played out a 0-0 draw with Antalyaspor.
\nFenerbahce fans voiced similar sentiments following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that claimed over 44,000 victims in Turkey.
\n\u201cTwenty years of lies and cheating, resign,\u201d Fenerbahce fans chanted during their 4-0 win over Konyaspor.
\nOpponents of the Turkish government have criticised what they feel is an inadequate response from the ruling authorities to the natural disaster
\nPresidential and parliamentary elections are due to take place on May 14.
\nBesiktas supporters are reputed to be closer to the opposition than to Recep Tayyip Edogan\u2019s ruling coalition.
\nBut chants of this kind became rarer after Erdogan cracked down in the wake of the failed coup against him in 2016.
\nDevlet Bahceli, head of the nationalist MHP party, the junior partner in Erdogan\u2019s governing coalition, called for authorities to have matches played behind closed doors if there were more such chants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Besiktas fans throw toys on to pitch for children affected by earthquake ANKARA: Besiktas fans called on the Turkish government to resign in terrace chants Sunday, throwing hundreds of soft toys onto the pitch in memory of child victims of the February 6 the earthquake. The protest, which took place during the match, follows that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316528,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-316516","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n