Turkish papers hail 'historic' win

Celebrating the first Turkish victory in European competition

The Turkish press are ecstatic at Galatasaray's victory over Arsenal in the Uefa Cup final in Copenhagen.

"Thus is history written," is the lead in Sabah. "Galatasaray becomes the first Turkish club to win a European soccer championship, downing Arsenal 4-1 on penalties."

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"Cimbom, Turkey is proud of you," is the Milliyet lead, referring to Galatasaray's nickname.

Sabah says the Turkish team was undaunted, despite being one man down in extra time.

"They did not forget that 65 million Turks were behind them," Sabah says. "They played with honour, pride and belief. They presented the Cup to the Turkish people."

"Galatasaray did the unbelievable," says Hurriyet, which had promised before the game to erect statues of the team if they won on Wednesday night.

Dark clouds

...pitched battles off it

Most of the Turkish press blames English hooligans for violent clashes which broke out in the Danish capital, saying they wanted revenge for the fatal stabbing of two Leeds supporters at the Uefa semi-final in Istanbul.

"Shame on you!" the tabloid Star says. "The English hooligans and the fanatical Galatasaray supporters who were provoked by them have shed blood again."

Milliyet says the heavy drinking by the English triggered the violence, while the Danish police "gave a clear signal by their passivity the night before that they would not be able to cope with a substantial outbreak of violence".

The British hooligans drank and drank and attacked Galatasaray fans

Milliyet

"Since the beginning of the week, the Turkish and English fans had been observing a friendly atmosphere," Milliyet's correspondent reports. "Unfortunately, when (the English) went over the alcohol limit, those glasses which had been raised for friendship were being thrown at each other".

Provocations

Only Radical breaks ranks, not by blaming Galatasaray fans, but by inviting a closer look at the Turkish media itself.

Turkish press: "Our fans were provoked"

"We put too much importance on the British hooligans," it quotes a Turkish TV editor as saying. "It has been reported that some press members provoked the fans themselves."

Meanwhile a columnist in the English-language Turkish Daily News columnist fears Galatasaray may be excluded from competitions if fighting breaks out in future competitions, but he thinks that would be a shame.

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Turkish Daily News

"We are seen as a country where human rights are trampled upon, freedom of thought does not exist, torture is practised on a wide-scale basis. Now, for the first time, Europe is meeting with a new aspect of Turkey."

Further afield

Earlier in the week, Hurriyet reported that Abdullah Ocalan, the Kurdish rebel leader on death row for treason, had requested a TV in his cell.

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Meanwhile, Azerbaijani TV reported that the streets of Baku were in uproar after the game, celebrating an event "the Turkic world should be proud of", in the words of the Turkish ambassador.

But outside the Turkic world, there is little in the events in Copenhagen to cheer about.

Dutch newspapers carry pictures of Wednesday's street battles, reminding readers that both Turkish and English fans will be arriving in next month for the Euro 2000 championship.

"If there is one lesson which can be drawn, it is that despite all the preparations and special scenarios, it can all go wrong," the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper says.