Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has described a recent crisis in Riyadh over the last-minute cancellation of the Turkish Super Cup final due to a row over Atatürk imagery an attempt at “sabotage” targeting Turkey’s interests, BBC Turkish service reported.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk is the founder of modern Turkey and is widely respected in the country.
“There was an insidious operation, a clear attempt of sabotage against Turkey and its interests here,” Erdoğan said on Tuesday, referring to the crisis in Riyadh, as he spoke at an event in Ankara.
The president did not elaborate on his remarks and did not make any comments about who was behind the alleged sabotage.
The Turkish Super Cup final between Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray was cancelled on Friday evening when the footballers were not allowed by the Saudi authorities to take the pitch with shirts bearing photos of Atatürk or banners featuring his words. The game was to be played at Al-Awwal Park Stadium in Riyadh.
Erdoğan said he regrets that a “wave of hate” sparked over the incident is targeting one of Turkey’s “brother” countries, which is also one of the most important investors in Turkey, as he complained about the rising ant-Arab sentiment in the country.
The cancellation of the game due to the Atatürk banners and shirts led to an emotional thunderstorm on social media, with people from all walks of life and fans of various clubs lauding the Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray team members for their decision not to play the game and sharing photos and words of Atatürk. Many social media users posted messages targeting Arabs and accusing them of showing no respect for Turkey’s founder.
Erdoğan and his government also came under intense criticism due to its decision to allow Saudi Arabia to host the game, especially when it was to have honored the centennial anniversary of the proclamation of the Turkish Republic, marked on October 29.
Erdoğan has not sacked the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) President Mehmet Büyükekşi contrary to expectations. He also avoided directly blaming Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray or Saudi Arabia for the crisis.
He only said the opposition parties were supporting the “sabotage” attempt against Turkey.
Ties between Riyadh and Ankara suffered a heavy blow with the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist and government critic Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s İstanbul consulate.
President Erdoğan previously said the “highest levels” of the Saudi government ordered the killing, although he has never blamed Prince Mohammed bin Salman, commonly known as MBS.
Erdoğan pushed hard to revive bilateral ties in 2022, a move analysts described as largely driven by economic considerations.
In April 2022 he paid his first visit to Saudi Arabia since the Khashoggi killing, where he met with MBS before traveling to Mecca.
MBS followed with a visit to Ankara in June 2022.
Last summer, Saudi Arabia signed a deal with Turkish defense contractor Baykar following a visit by Erdoğan to buy drones. The deal was described as “the biggest defense and aviation export contract in the history of the Turkish Republic,” by Haluk Bayraktar, CEO of the company and brother of Selçuk Bayraktar, Erdoğan’s son-in-law.