‘We are here’: Kurdish club Amedspor shakes up Turkish football

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Ten years ago, as parts of Diyarbakir in southeast Turkiye were reduced to rubble in battles between the military and Kurdish fighters, the city’s main football club, Amedspor, became a target. Diyarbakir is the biggest Kurdish-majority city in Turkiye, and Amedspor , then in the third tier, had become a standard bearer of Kurdish identity. As fighting raged between the state and groups linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the club was hit with fines and bans on away supporters and outspoken players. Its premises were raided by antiterrorism police, and its fans, players and officials were attacked by rival supporters. In the years that followed, its survival looked uncertain.