IIn Turkey he has gone from being a celebrated hero to an enemy of the state: Hakan Sükür made 112 international matches in which he scored 51 goals. But because he criticized the government, he had to leave his home country. Sükür, whose records and statistics were subsequently simply deleted, emigrated to the USA.
Question: You yourself are being ignored in Turkey today, your records are no longer mentioned. Does that hurt you?
Thank you: Of course it hurts. The politicians in Turkey use football for their own purposes. Politicians use me, as the most famous player in Turkey, who is also popular among the people, to sow fear. They want to show that they can take on anyone and that what happened to me can happen to anyone. As for my performance – everyone knows the truth. It’s obvious what I’ve done.
Question: What would happen today if you went to Turkey?
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