A Turkish contrast sweeps through Berlin
What a commotion in Berlin. Turkish President Erdoğan is in the city the day before the DFB team's friendly against Turkey. It's like a fortress. Everyone is nervous. What will happen on match day? A city prepares itself.
Berlin-Kreuzberg. Kottbusser Tor. In the early afternoon, the crowds throng in front of and inside the restaurants and food stalls. Many of them are wearing Turkish national team shirts or carrying Turkish flags. Mostly young women and men. The surrounding streets are congested. There is a lot going on, hours before the friendly match between the German and Turkish national teams kicks off in the Berlin Olympic Stadium, 13 kilometers away. The mood: anticipation.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's state visit had turned parts of Berlin into a security zone the day before. Helicopters circle over the city and look down on closed streets. Berlin is in turmoil. At least where the Turkish president will be. Even in front of the entrance to the Dussmann cultural department store on Friedrichstrasse, the police were still patrolling late in the evening.
The Turkish president had long since left Berlin when protesters set off from several corners of the city on Saturday. Over 4000 people set off from Kreuzberg towards Mitte. They are wearing the Kurdish colors, some are dressed martially and chant "Erdoğan Terrorist". The demonstration against the PKK ban was largely peaceful. There are a few arrests.
"We're not up for this shit"
A little later, there is no sign of this at Kottbusser Tor. People are just feasting and discussing soccer. Even the sun makes a brief appearance. Kaya and Enes (names changed by the editors) have come all the way from Hamburg for the game. Kaya is wearing a scarf with the German flag on one side and the Turkish flag on the other. He bought it at the stadium that morning. "Who are we for?" laughs Enes. "For the winner. You can easily turn the scarf around." The two Hamburg residents assume that "there are bound to be a few fanatics", but "we're not up for that shit". That's why "fortunately Erdoğan is gone again", whom they don't support. There is now a friendly game coming up and "friendship should win".
Like Kaya and Enes, many people at Kottbusser Tor have come from far and wide this afternoon. Dortmund, Hamburg, even from the Netherlands and Belgium. There is no trace of a security zone here. Every now and then a police car with flashing blue lights roars past. But it's "all quiet", says a policewoman, even though several hundred officers are on duty in the area because of the international match. Four people from Frankfurt say that the match has "no particular significance" for them, that they have come "just to see the Turkish national team and experience something different".
At the other end of the city, five women wearing Palestine scarves are sitting outside the gates of the old Schering AG in Wedding on their way to the pro-Palestine demonstration starting at Invalidenplatz, not far from Berlin's main railway station. They squeeze onto the 120 bus, where Poles cursing "Kurwa" can barely make themselves heard. Most people ignore them. They get off at the Habersaathstraße stop and mingle with the sea of demonstrators.
Palestine flags and "Freedom for Gaza"
Along Scharnhorststraße, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state police have deployed a large force. The forces gather in front of around 40 tubs. They are standing in front of the Federal Ministry of Economics, whose head, Robert Habeck, addressed a warning to Muslims living in Germany in a much-noticed speech to the nation at the beginning of the month.
"The Muslims living here are entitled to protection from right-wing extremist violence - and rightly so. If they are attacked, this claim must be honored," said the Green politician, adding: "They must now do the same when Jews are attacked. They must distance themselves clearly and unequivocally from anti-Semitism so as not to undermine their own claim to tolerance."
According to the police, 4,000 of these Muslims living in Germany have now come to demonstrate. Around 10,000 were expected. Those who have come are making their voices heard: they are for Palestine and against Germany and Israel. "Freedom for Palestine, freedom for Gaza", they chant, followed by "Israel bombs, Germany finances" and ending with "Our children want to live, Germany is against it, Israel is against it". The organizer announced from the loudspeaker truck: "We want to live together peacefully with the Jews."
In addition to the countless Palestine flags and Pali cloths, a few Turkey flags can also be seen. They are joined by a German flag, a Lebanese flag and a Bosnian flag. "Don't let yourselves be deceived, German media lie", echoed from the mouths, then the procession set off in the direction of the Victory Column. The demonstrators wave their flags, here too the Turkish flags are the red splash of color next to the Palestinian flags in the pan-Arab colors.
Only peace at Kotti
The situation at Kottbusser Tor is completely different. No Palestine scarves or flags, no Pali scarves. Jogging bottoms and winter coats reign here. Adem, Can and Mehmet, all in their early 20s, have traveled here from Kiel. They play together in a soccer club there and explain in the packed kebab store: "It only happens once in a blue moon that you can see the Turkish team live." As they chat about their team, they go into raptures. Under Vincenzo Montella, things are going much better than under Stefan Kuntz, they have one of the youngest teams in Europe and there are now more Turks playing in our league than before and not so many old stars from Europe.
A few of their soccer team said last week that Germany would "beat Turkey", so they are now hoping Montella's men will win. But there are other reasons for them: "We grew up in Germany, but because of our families there we identify more with Turkey. Also because Turkey is an underdog in the game." But if Germany wins, "we'll be happy too". Perhaps a draw with lots of goals would be best.
The young fans bought their tickets via the DFB website, "so we're also sitting with German fans". Adem, Can and Mehmet are also simply in the mood for fun and soccer. Politics is discussed, but it should not be brought into the stadium. Erdoğan is doing a lot wrong, they say, "but the problem in Turkey is that a successor wouldn't do any better." What bothers the three of them, however, is that some people in Germany think that "all Turks here would vote for him, but that's not true". Next up is Mesut Özil, whom they still admire. "He did well: he chose the German national team, celebrated great successes with them and never hid his Turkish roots." She is saddened by the fact that he was met with racism in Germany when he retired in 2018, just like Antonio Rüdiger or İlkay Gündoğan later did in comments on social media.
Turkish fan march remains peaceful
At 5:30 pm, the fans of the Turkish national team gather at Theodor-Heuss-Platz in Berlin's Westend district. From here they make their way to the guest block in the Olympic Stadium. Around 1900 people, mostly young men, gather, along with many police officers. The organizers had invited fans of both teams, but only one DFB supporter is spotted. "Türkiye, Türkiye" resounds in the Berlin darkness, which is repeatedly lit up by pyrotechnics - although the organizers dutifully point out that pyrotechnics are not to be set off. However, compared to any Bundesliga fan march, this is more on a sparkler level. The march continues through the old western part of the city towards the Olympic Stadium.
The atmosphere is loud, but peaceful and cheerful. Anticipation instead of politics, the organizers shout to the crowd that the police's announcements are to be respected. If political statements had been made, the organizer is aware that the march would have been stopped prematurely by the police and broken up. "But this is more about large posters" and not about individual Palestine scarves, a police spokeswoman tells ntv.de. But instead of posters, there are drums. The police, she says, have no evidence of problem fans from Turkey or other countries. They are prepared for a few motorcades, but otherwise a rather quiet night is expected. After all, the day has already been exhausting enough.
- Despite the tension surrounding Turkish President Erdoğan's visit, the atmosphere at Kottbusser Tor was one of delight and anticipation among the Turkish fans. Aduam, Can, and Mehmet, three young fans from Kiel, shared their excitement for the upcoming game and identified more with Turkey due to their families and the underdog status of the Turkish team.
- In a stark contrast to the atmosphere at Kottbusser Tor, the pro-Palestine demonstration nearby was filled with opposing sentiments. Thousands of demonstrators chanted for Palestine's freedom, criticized Germany and Israel, and called for peace between Palestinians and Jews. Turkey flags also made an appearance among the variety of flags raised during the event.
- Following his visit to Berlin, Turkish President Erdoğan's focus shifted towards promoting peace talks with Palestine. Speaking at a meeting in Istanbul, President Erdoğan emphasized the need for a two-state solution and decried recent Israeli actions in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Source: www.ntv.de
