News Center – Bursaspor Club President Enes Çelik argued that the curses made by Bursaspor fans towards Leyla Zana were a “short-term and non-repetitive chant” and said that a legal process was initiated against the “racist, insulting and hateful posts” directed at the team’s fans.
Bursa fans chanting sexist curses towards Kurdish politician Leyla Zana during the Somaspor-Bursaspor match played at Soma Nazım Yavuz Stadium caused a great public reaction.
Bursaspor President: “The product of different and secret agendas”
Bursaspor Club President Enes Çelik, who made a written statement after the reactions, claimed that the swearing in question was “a short-term and non-repeated chant”.
Çelik evaluated the criticisms against the club as “the product of different and secret agendas by certain circles”.
“We have initiated legal proceedings as of now.”
Highlighting the statement of Vanspor 2nd President Veysi Gençer on the subject, Çelik said the following:
“We have now initiated all necessary legal proceedings against those who made racist, insulting and hateful posts targeting our club, myself and our fans, especially the so-called manager of Vanspor, the insolent person. We are also aware that the purpose of the person who exceeded his limits and dared to attack our club in an extremely ugly manner in order to camouflage his own failures, is to remove the pressure on himself in the eyes of his community. He should mind his own business, know his place and be responsible for Bursaspor.” We strongly recommend that you do not mention his name.
My father, Faruk Çelik, who served as a minister for many years and served as a member of parliament in Şanlıurfa, acted with a service approach that was at peace with all the people of the region, especially the Kurdish people, and won the love of all segments of society during his time in office. As the son of such a father, it is my motto to respect the law and dignity of every member of our nation. I wholeheartedly believe that this sensitivity is shared by every member of Bursaspor Club, of which I am the president.
“The tribune leader was born in Diyarbakır and is of Kurdish origin”
We would like to remind you that the tribune leader of our fan, who is undeservedly accused of racism and misogyny, was born in Diyarbakır and of Kurdish origin, and that there are thousands of female fans in our stands every week.
It is known to the public that we have been against bad cheering in the stands since the day we took office, and that we have received Fair-Play awards from the TFF by minimizing this with the support of our fans.
We will not compromise on this understanding from now on, as we have done so far, and we will continue to struggle to completely eliminate bad cheering from the stands; “We respectfully announce to the public that we know that our fans have the same opinion and determination on this issue.”
Dear Bursaspor fans and the respected public;
We regret that some statements have been made today by certain circles, which are obviously the product of different and secret agendas, regarding a short-lived and non-repeated chant during the away match we played yesterday…
— Enes Çelik (@EnsCelik16) December 17, 2025
What did Veysi Gençer say?
Vanspor 2nd President Veysi Gençer criticized Enes Çelik and Bursaspor fans with harsh words on his social media account after the insults towards Leyla Zana.
Gençer, “Enes Çelik and Bursaspor’s racist, misogynist fan gang!” He used the following statements in his post titled:
“Our women have a sacred place in both our religion and our family. Humiliating them based on their gender and shouting swearing and insulting slogans is an inhumane baseness and dishonor! Those disgusting chants you displayed towards Leyla Zana in the stands during the Somaspor match are not only a shameful disgrace, but also a clear hate crime, misogyny and racism. With this behavior, you have dragged Bursaspor into the mud and tarnished the name of Turkish football!
“Not apologizing is complete cowardice and irresponsibility.”
Enes Celik! As the club president or the son of a former minister, keeping silent about this disgrace, not making a single statement or apologizing is complete cowardice and irresponsibility. With your silence, you became a shield for that racist group and participated in their crime! Immediately apologize publicly, identify the fans responsible, ban them from the stadium for life, and clean the club of this dirt. Otherwise, you don’t deserve that seat; History will remember you and your club with this shame!
“Be careful and know your place!”
Bursaspor fans! You are all responsible, both those shouting those disgusting slogans in the stands and those silently watching. Sport is fair-play, brotherhood and respect; What you are doing is outright hatred and fascism. You are ruining your club with these disgraces. If you have a conscience, be ashamed and let it never happen again!
This language of hate and misogyny should end immediately! If an apology is not made and the necessary punishments are not given, the anger of the society will crush you and your club. This black mark will never go away from Bursaspor.
Be careful and know your place!”
