Turkish coach of Greek basketball team takes stand against anti-Türkiye banner hung on court

By Can Erozden

Knowing full well that doing so would likely get him ejected from the game, a Turkish basketball coach on Monday night still went onto the court on Monday night to protest an anti-Turkish banner hung there.

Ergin Ataman, the coach of Greek team Panathinaikos, took the stand during a pre-season friendly against Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Greek Cypriot administration.

Ataman stormed onto the court to protest to game officials after he saw a banner hung by a Greek fan group criticizing the so-called Turkish occupation of the island since 1974, when Turkish troops were sent to Cyprus to protect Turkish Cypriots from a wave of ethnic attacks by Greek Cypriots. For doing so, he was ejected from the game.

The provocative banner had a map of the island of Cyprus with the northern part – home to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, founded in 1983 – shown as bleeding.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded nine years later.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

The Greek Cypriot administration was admitted to the EU in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots thwarted a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.

The Greek Cypriots call the 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation an "invasion,” failing to recognize that it was needed to stop the bloodshed and bring peace to the island.

In July, Türkiye commemorated the 50th anniversary of the landmark Cyprus Peace Operation, marked as Peace and Freedom Day in the TRNC.

- 'Sports arenas are places for friendship, and peace, not politics'

On Instagram, Ataman on Tuesday slammed the Greek fan club’s anti-Turkish banner.

He said he was "warmly welcomed" when he arrived at the airport with Panathinaikos for the friendly but then the banner during the game frustrated him.

"However, yesterday in the arena, where sports and friendship should prevail, a political banner was displayed by a small group that I did not find fitting for the hospitality we have experienced here. I expressed my reaction to this situation in the strongest way possible to draw attention to it.

"Sports arenas are places for friendship and peace, not politics. I know that the people who displayed that banner will not affect the emotions of the thousands of people who have shown me and my team love since day one here. There will always be a very special bond of affection between us and them.

"Likewise, no matter what happens, my love for the true basketball fans here will always remain the same. Because the strongest thing that brings us together is our shared love for basketball."

"I believe that sports and friendship will always win," Ataman said.

Ataman, who is also head coach of the Tükiye National Basketball Team, in July signed a new contract with Panathinaikos that will keep the 58-year-old at the Greens until summer 2027.

Last season Ataman guided Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens to the 2024 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague title, the club's first European success in 13 years. Panathinaikos also won the Greek title beating archrivals Olympiacos in June.

In addition to Ataman, Panathinaikos has two Turkish nationals on the squad: Cedi Osman and Omer Yurtseven. The Turkish forwards once played for the NBA players. They signed for Panathinaikos this summer.

- Banner 'not in line with the ethics of sports'

Akif Cagatay Kilic, the chief foreign policy and security advisor to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, condemned the display of the banner. He stated that the banner, unfurled by a group of fans, constituted "political propaganda" and was "not in line with the ethics of sports."

Kilic also called on international sports and basketball officials to take action against this "political and immoral propaganda." He also commended Ataman for his response to the banner.