Galatasaray’s Yasin Öztekin, who scored three goals against Gaziantepspor in Sunday’s Süper Lig match, approached police officers and embraced them in solidarity with the victims of Saturday’s deadly bomb attack near Beşiktaş Vodafone Arena in İstanbul.
Turkey declared a day of national mourning after twin bombings targeting police struck the heart of Istanbul near the home stadium of football giants Besiktas, killing 38 people. / AFP PHOTO / STR
The Turkish players and referees give carnations to police officers to pay tribute to police officers who were killed in the İstanbul terror attacks before the Turkish Spor Toto Süper Lig football match between Galatasaray and Gaziantepspor at TT Arena in İstanbul.
Galatasaray footballers, including Dutch player Wesley Sneijder, took some police officers patrolling the stadium to the stands for fans to applaud them.
Speaking to reporters after the match, Yasin said he was about to cry when he embraced the police officers.
“We will overcome these difficulties together. Before the match began, I just wanted to score lots of goals and wanted to dedicate them to our martyrs,” he said.
Sunday’s matches began following a minute’s silence held before each game throughout the country.
Abdullah Coskun / Anadolu Agency