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So I thought I'd write a quick blog about my first Turkish derby experience....almost! A few days before the match I went with Asli to the stadium to buy my ticket for the match. At the ticket booth there was a ticket tout selling loads of cheaper tickets in the hardcore end of the stadium with the 'Texas' spporter groups (don't know why they're called that). So after sussing him out and deciding the tickets were legit, I bought one off him for 35tl; about £14. I thought that was a pretty good price for a derby match, especially with Besiktas having players like Guti, Simao, Quaresma etc. I was happy.
So on match day I left Asli at home and started the short walk to the stadium. I got there about 90 mins before the game because when you get in your section of the stadium the seats on the tickets don't matter, you sit where you can find a seat. As soon as I got there I saw fighting between the Bursaspor fans and the police, rocks, bottles, pieces of wood going one way and tear gas bombs going the other. After a while of watching I made my way to the entrance...well I tried. Everytime I walked with a group up to the road to our bit of the stadium we would get half way up the road and then the police would chase us back throwing tear gas and shooting water from the cannons, we would try again and the same thing would happen. After going back and forth several times they finally got out the way and let us by. I was just about at the stadium when everyone started running, I quickly realised I was in the midst of a massive cloud of tear gas...it was freakin horrible! My eyes felt like they were bleeding, I couldn't breathe, my nose was stinging...thank God I had brought some water. I was pouring it in my eyes and helping out some other guys that were affected even more. The asshole Bursaspor fans that created all the trouble were definately at fault but the police weren't helping!
I got in the queue to get in the stadium, it was pretty crazy, everyone trying to pack in and get away from the tear gas. I finally got in and found a perfect seat. Everyone was singing, the atmosphere was amazing and I was really getting butterflys waiting for the match to start. Then at about 20 minutes before kick off I noticed people leaving the stadium and then I saw the big screen turn off, thats when I started to worry that the match was off...but it couldn't be right?!?! After a while I asked the guy next to me in broken English/Turkish what was going on and he got through to me that the match was abandoned because of all the violence. People were getting really really angry and started to flood out.
I got out the stadium and it was seriosuly like a war zone! People smashing everything up, signs, stalls, traffic lights, advertising board...even one poor guy that drove down the wrong road had some assholes jumping on his car, smashing the lights. My way home was blocked off by the police so I had to find another way home via the backstreets. I wanted to get home but at the same time I have to admit that it was pretty damn exciting and part of me wanted to stay around for a bit. So I did and I took some videos and just took it all in for a bit with a bit of running for my life everytime the police would throw tear gas or get out the water cannon. After a bit I ran down a backstreet and ran down the wrong one because I got tear gassed again but it wasn't half as bad as the first time. I kept snaking down the back streets finding a way home and walked right in front of a bunch of riot police at one point by accident and one guy raised his baton to me...I had done nothing wrong and was just trying to find a way home. Anyway, I quickly jumped away and kept going down the road. After one final tear gas episode and giving my remaining water to a guy who seemed really badly effected my it I got home to the delight of Asli who was watching what was going on live on a nation wide news channel.
After I got home and the adrenaline wore off I got really pissed off that I didn't get to see the match. At the end of the day I paid good money to see a match and it was one I picked before I even came to Turkey. It was exciting and an experience but it was a bit too much...do these people have nothing else to do? It was all so obviosuly planned. If they want to have a bit of a fight then that's up to them but one guy I was walking next too had metal knunchucks on him, smashing everything in his sight. Do they not want to see their team play too?
It's the next day now and I'm going to go out soon and I guess I'll see the damage on the city, it probably won't be as bad as I'm imagining, I'm sure the city expected all this to an extent as well.
Mika
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