Amed SFK from the Kurdish southeast of Türkiye celebrates promotion to the first league – and in doing so puts the mood in the country to the test.
There is a special and politically explosive newcomer in Turkish football: Amed SFK will play in the Süper Lig for the first time next season and will face big clubs such as Galatasaray Istanbul and Trabzonspor.
The Kurdish-influenced club from the provincial capital Diyarbakir ended the season with a 3-3 draw at Alagöz Holding Igdir FK in the second division to secure promotion as second behind Erzurumspor FK.
Fight against resistance
Diyarbakir is located in the southeast of Türkiye and is one of the less developed areas, says Tuncay Özdamar, head of the Turkish editorial team at WDR and an expert on Turkish football. “The region is struggling with an economic crisis and the club also had to fight against political resistance. This makes its current rise all the more impressive.”
The estimated 15 million Kurds living in Turkey make up around 19 percent of the total population; the southeast of Türkiye in particular is predominantly Kurdish. Coexistence is full of tensions, not least because of the long-standing conflicts between the Turkish state and the Kurdish underground organization PKK.
Racism and attacks on the players
The colors of Amedspor (green, red, white) are based on the Kurdish flag; the club is considered a representative of the Kurdish population. That’s why football games are often politically charged.
“I remember encounters with racist hostility, where the players were attacked,” says Ozdamar. An example of such incidents is the third division duel at Bursaspor in March 2023.
“Turnaround in Kurdish policy”
The political situation is currently less tense since the PKK disbanded in May 2025 and gave up the armed struggle. “There is currently a change in Kurdish policy, which is also good for the club,” says Ozdamar.
A Kurdish-influenced club in the Süper Lig – that has great symbolic power. “It speaks for the integrity of the country, for the fact that all parts of the population can participate.“
How do the TV experts act?
It is fitting that Amedspor receives congratulations from all sides. From President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, from opposition leader Özgür Özel and from all the major clubs from Istanbul: Galatasaray, Besiktas and Fenerbahçe.
However, doubts remain as to how the fans from western Turkey will actually receive Amed SFK – and how the influential TV experts will behave. “There are a number of commentators who like to provoke and thereby create tension,” says Ozdamar.
Five German-Turks in the squad
Amed SFK achieved promotion with an international offensive. The Senegalese Mbaye Diagne became a promotion hero with 29 goals, other supports included Daniel Moreno (Colombia), Dia Saba (Argentina) and Felix Afena-Gyan (Ghana).
There are also five German-Turks in the squad, for example Sinan Kurt, who was born in Moers, was part of the regular formation as a defensive midfielder. Former Turkish national player Hasan Ali Kaldirim, born in Neuwied, was also often used.
Ban due to “ideological propaganda”
Cekdar Orhan, youth player in Mönchengladbach, Wuppertal and Oberhausen, was more of a second choice. But the 28-year-old showed how delicate the political situation of the Kurdish club continues to be.
On February 1st, Orhan celebrated his joker goal in the 7-0 win against Adana Demirspor with the gesture of braiding his hair (Turkish: saç örme). He was referring to a wave of protests on social media after Syrian government soldiers forcibly cut off the hair of a Kurdish fighter.
The sports court saw this as ideological propaganda and banned Orhan for five games. It also sentenced Amed SFK to a fine of 600,000 Turkish lira (a good 11,000 euros).
