Just after the end of EURO 2016, Turkish football fans are to meet with fans from across Europe at a major event in Izmir from 14 – 17 JULY 2016 to discuss key questions of Turkish and international football under the motto “All Colours Meet in Izmir”. The Summer Network Meeting of Football Supporters Europe (FSE) is organised by the leading umbrella supporters associations in Turkey THD (Taraftar Hakları Derneği – Fan Rights Association) and Taraf-Der (Taraftar Hakları Dayanışma Derneği – Fan Rights Solidartiy Association).
The three day conference which received support by various partners and the City of Izmir, and will see more than 500 football fans and officials from across Europe, the US and South America taking part, thereby making it the biggest international gathering of this kind ever hosted in the country.
The event marks a milestone not just in the cooperation of THD and TarafDer as the two key supporter associations in the country, but also for football fans in Turkey in general. Fans from all major clubs are set to take part in workshops and panel discussions on an wide range of topical issues for fans such as fan involvment in stadium reconstruction, fan ID cards in Europe, how fans and football internationally are affected by the terror threat, fan involvement in managing football clubs, how to prevent discriminatory chanting, access for disabled supporters and how fans engage for social causes. The debates are accompanied by a big variety of fringe events, seeking to promote understanding and solidarity among football supporters for common issues beyond rivalry and national borders, including fan banner exhibitions, open air screenings of international fan movies, and an All-Star football match against a team of refugees, including former national team players.
Daniela Wurbs, CEO of Football Supporters Europe (FSE): “It is fantastic to see what a great programme our friends and members from THD and TarafDer have managed to put together, despite partially challenging conditions. As FSE we believe that it will take our network actions to a new level and underlines the exemplary and constructive role these two supporter organisations and their member groups play in Turkey in voicing the interests of supporters. We hope that the football governing bodies and institutions in Turkey recognize this likewise and use the event to establish an open and structured dialogue with fans in the country.”
Burkal Efe, chairman of Taraftar Hakları Derneği (THD): “It is a privilege for THD and TarafDer to welcome like-minded supporters and officials from all over Turkey and across the world at our event. We are looking forward to lots of fun, as well as to educating and lively debates that we can all learn from. With this meeting, we seek to enrich each others experiences and strengthen our bonds as football fans for our actions at local level, inside our European network Football Supporters Europe (FSE) and beyond.”
“We believe that especially during these times of global turmoil, football fans in Izmir will show on the coming weekend how international unity can achieve more than hatred. We would like to thank the City of Izmir, Mechanical Engineers’ Chamber of Turkey, Sporlab, Sopalı Pankart Fanzine, İzmirspor Football Club, Tepekule Cathering …. and in particular our dear friends from Sakaryaspor for organising financial aid campaign, driven by the fans to support the event and for their support in making this possible.”
Further details about the FSE Summer Network Meeting programme are available via the event website www.fseizmir2016.org
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Football Supporters Europe network (FSE) is an independent, representative and democratically organised grass-roots network of football fans’ in Europe with members in currently 48 countries across the continent. FSE has been recognised by UEFA as their European dialogue partner on fans’ issues and is working in a number of expert committees and working groups of the European Union and the Council of Europe, amongst others.
Taraftar Hakları Derneği (THD) was founded in 2012 as a regional supporters rights union of Izmir-based football fans from different clubs who wanted to tackle the looming demolition of their football stadium. TarafDer followed in 2013 as regional supporters rights association in the region of Ankara. Whilst THD is focussed on campaigning on all sorts of topics relevant to football fans, TarafDer’s key area of activity is the provision of legal aid and judicial proceedings on fan matters. Both organisations have cooperated very closely from the beginning of their existence, and in particular in the course of legal proceedings and fans’ protests against the fan ID card Passolig in Turkey. In the meantime, they have become the leading supporter organisations in the country.
The FSE Summer Network Meeting is organised as a semi-autonomous event by Taraftar Hakları Derneği (THD) in cooperation with TarafDer. Following an open call of the FSE Committee to its members to apply as hosts in 2015, THD ultimately was selected among all submissions and won the bid to host the event.
CONTACT DETAILS & COMMUNICATION CHANNELS:
EVENT WEBSITE: www.fseizmir2016.org (ENG/TUR)
FSE Summer Network Meeting Facebook sites (TURKISH page – ENGLISH page)
FOOTBALL SUPPORTERS EUROPE
FSE WEBSITE: www.fanseurope.org (ENG/GER/FR/ESP/ITA/RUS/TUR)
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/FansEurope TWITTER: @FansEurope (mainly ENGLISH)
PRESS ENQUIRIES: Daniela Wurbs, CEO, Tel: +49 179 75 11 886 (ENG / GER / FR)
TARAFTAR HAKLARI DERNEĞI (THD)
THD on FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/TaraftarHaklariDernegi TWITTER: @taraftarhaklari (TURKISH)
PRESS ENQUIRIES: Tolga Senel + 90 530 663 7173 (TUR / ENG)
TARAFDER
TarafDer on FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/tarafder2013 TWITTER: @tarafder2013 (TURKISH)