Former NBA player Hidayet Turkoglu re-elected as Turkish basketball body chief

By Erkan Tiryaki, Muhammed Boztepe

ANKARA (AA) – Ex-NBA player Hidayet Turkoglu was re-elected as president of the Turkish Basketball Federation (TBF) on Tuesday.

Turkoglu, who played in the NBA from 2000 to 2015, received the majority of the votes in the general assembly in Ankara to keep his position.

Turkoglu, 45, a former Orlando Magic forward, received 133 votes out of 165 to beat his opponent, Efe Aydan, who is also a former basketball player.

Aydan, 69, got 29 votes, while the remaining votes were declared invalid.

Turkoglu, who has been the Turkish basketball body's chief since 2016, thanked those who voted for him in the general assembly.

It will be his third stint at the TBF.

Additionally, the Turkish basketball body's board of directors includes former Türkiye players Harun Erdenay and Huseyin Besok, as well as Serdar Karagoz, the president and CEO of Anadolu.

Turkoglu began his career with Türkiye's Efes Pilsen, which is now Anadolu Efes, before joining NBA franchise Sacramento Kings in 2000.

Popularly known as Hedo during his NBA years, Turkoglu later played for the San Antonio Spurs, Orlando Magic, Toronto Raptors, Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers during a 15-year career in the US and Canada.

He was a Türkiye regular as Turkoglu won silver medals at the 2001 European Championship largely called the EuroBasket and the 2010 FIBA World Championship, now called the FIBA World Cup, before retiring from the game in 2015.

Turkoglu has been a chief advisor to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

- 'Basketball fever' in whole country

Karagoz, who is on the TBF board, said that he wants the entire country to see a "basketball fever" again as they aim to take Turkish basketball further.

"Basketball is a sport that is both fun to watch and play," Karagoz told Anadolu, adding that "We hope Türkiye will see the basketball fever again."

"There are (some) projects that we want to do as a federation. The Basketball Development Center in Istanbul is already world-class," he said, stressing Türkiye's interest and importance in basketball.

He said they want all young people in Turkish schools and streets to be interested in basketball.

"... Together we will try to represent our basketball at both international and club levels. I'm not only talking about sporting success. There are millions of young people in this country and I want all together to create a basketball spirit in Türkiye."

Türkiye is among the most important basketball nations, ranking 27th globally and 15th in Europe, FIBA, the world basketball's governing body, said on its website on Aug. 10.

The Turkish men's national team, led by Turkoglu was the 2010 runners-up at the World Cup after losing to star-studded Team USA in Istanbul.

Türkiye were also the EuroBasket 2001 silver medalists as the hosts lost to Yugoslavia.