The “Forced Marriage in Sports” seminar held the Department of Physical Education and Sports Teaching of the Faculty of Sports Sciences of Near East University was also attended by Vice President of the Turkish Cypriot Sports Writers Association (KTSYD) Expert Ahmet Özyaşar.

The seminar held at the Pink Hall of the Tourism Faculty of Near East University with intense participation; the book “Forced Marriage in Sports” written by Ahmet Özyaşar, which covers the relationship between sports and politics in the Turkish Cypriot Community from the Ottoman Empire to the present day, was discussed. Ahmet Özyaşar provided information to the participants about the content of the book, while the seminar drew attention to important points regarding the social structure of sports on the island and the impact of politics on sports.

The event, attended by the President of the Turkish Cypriot Sports Writers Association Necati Özsoy and Board Member Ahmet Özsoy, hosted the Dean of the Faculty of Sports Sciences of Near East University Prof. Dr. Mehtap Tiryakioğlu, Vice Dean Prof. Dr. Hasan Ulaş Yavuz, Vice Dean and Head of the Department of Physical Education and Sports Teaching Prof. Dr. Nazım Serkan Burgul, Head of the Department of Coach Education Assoc. Prof. Dr. Deniz Erdağ, Head of the Department of Recreation Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hakan Atamtürk and many academicians and students, ended with a question and answer session and certificates of appreciation were presented to Necati Özsoy and Ahmet Özyaşar.

Necati Özsoy: “The state should have a sports policy with a clear framework!”

Necati Özsoy, President of the Turkish Cypriot Sports Writers Association, emphasized in his speech at the seminar that sports policies in the country should be established within a clear framework. Özsoy, who said, “The state should have a sports policy with a clear framework,” stated that sports should be managed with a more systematic and sustainable policy. Özsoy expressed his hope that the Ministry of Youth and Sports would resume its activities with the aims of encouraging young people to do sports and developing sports infrastructure. Finally, Özsoy added that he thought such a ministry would contribute to the creation of a long-term strategy covering all branches of sports.

The ‘obligatory and tight’ relationship between sports and politics in the Turkish Cypriot community is in the book “Forced Marriage in Sports”!

Ahmet Özyaşar, who examined the ‘effect of politics on sports’ with examples during the transformation process in the sports history of the TRNC and today, explained the stages that Turkish Cypriot Sports went through within politics in his presentation. Özyaşar started his speech by saying; “Sports have never remained just sports on this island, and football has never been just football. Sports, football and clubs have always been turned into a tool for political events and organizations.”

Özyaşar, who touched on the fact that sports, especially football, have not remained just a branch of sports but have intertwined with politics and played an important role in social areas, addressed this obligatory relationship with examples from the historical process, and stated how sports were used for political purposes and how these two areas affected each other. Özyaşar, who stated that the name “Forced Marriage in Sports” symbolizes the forced and close relationship between sports and politics in the Turkish Cypriot community, said; “Imagine a marriage in which a husband and wife do not love each other but cannot separate because they need each other. Our clubs and sports branches have been connected to politics from the past to the present. We have such an interesting structure that we hate each other but at the same time we feed off each other.”

The importance of sports in the Turkish Cypriot community’s struggle for existence and in the political context was discussed with examples…

Özyaşar, who noted how political events and organizations in Turkish Cypriot history were shaped through sports, briefly included the following statements in his presentation: “We saw with examples that the Turkish Resistance Organization (TMT) turned sports clubs into organizational centers in the 1950s. We have seen the decision of Kemal Şemiler, the legendary chairman of Çetinkaya, one of the most powerful men of TMT and the leader of Nicosia at the time, to ‘close the club and its footballers, who are TMT members, on the grounds that it would be better managed and its footballers would be included in the Çetinkaya Club’. The problems experienced by footballers such as Zihni Kalmaz due to their political views, and the fact that the athlete nicknamed ‘Galliga’ was almost declared a ‘traitor’ clearly demonstrate the relationship between sports and politics. In addition, while it shows how nationalist feelings are being integrated into football, as in many bad examples, it also reveals the potential of sports to convey messages of peace and friendship.”