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"Government resign": Besiktas fans threw thousands of teddy bears and demonstrated against Erdogan

Turkish Besiktas football club fans shocked the Turkish public at last night's game (26/2) against Antalyaspor, as they threw thousands of teddy bears on the pitch, for the children of the earthquake affected areas in Turkey.

Turkey and Syria in particular have been devastated by a series of recent 7.8 and 7.7 earthquakes that struck on February 6, as more than 50,000 people have lost their lives - including former Premier League striker Christian Atsu .

At the same time, the match between Besiktas and Antalyaspor also turned into an anti-government demonstration against Recep Tayyip Erdogan with the fans of the home team chanting "government, resign!".

And as the affliceted areas try to heal their wounds from the tragedy, fans of Turkish soccer team Besiktas are channeling their passion to that end. During Besiktas' match against Antalyaspor on Sunday (26/2), as part of the postponed matchday 14 of the Super League, fans threw thousands of teddy bears onto the pitch in a touching gesture towards children affected by the earthquakes. The throwing of stuffed toys started at 4 minutes and 17 seconds into the match, because the first earthquake occurred at 4:17 on the morning of February 6.

Trabzonspor card stunt for the earthquake victims in Turkey

Besiktas fans had thrown teddy bears onto the pitch at least once before, in 2011 to cheer up children affected by an earthquake in the Turkish city of Van.

Trabzonspor, another Turkish football club, performed a fanciful koreo in honor of earthquake victims and rescue workers before their match against Swiss side Basel earlier this month. In that game, all proceeds from ticket sales went to relief funds and a banner reading "Yaninizdayiz" - which translates as "we are with you" - was on the Akyazi Arena pitch.

  • Published in World
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