131 youth youth athletes in the 10-16 age group, victims of the war, came to Trabzon in the evening.
Within the scope of the project, organized by the Association of Clubs Foundation and supported by Trabzonspor, Çaykur Rizespor, Kayserispor, Sivasspor and Antalyaspor, a 131-person convoy of Ukrainian war victims infrastructure athletes came to Trabzon from Poland by private plane.
On the arrival of the athletes at Trabzon Airport, Trabzonspor President Ahmet Ağaoğlu, as well as Secretary General Ömer Sağıroğlu and some managers, Çaykur Rizespor manager Serkan Karavin and representatives of other clubs were welcomed.
Trabzonspor Club President Ahmet Ağaoğlu also gave information about the preparations made for the athletes. Ağaoğlu said, “Rizespor also sent their vehicles for our children. On the way out, 48 athletes and 5 parents, a group of 53 people, will move to Rize. We also have athletes who will move to Sivas and Kayseri after having dinner at Özkan Sümer Academy. 60 athletes and All 6 parents will be guests of Trabzonspor at Özkan Sümer Academy. They will be with us until the conditions in their country return to normal. At the request of the Ukrainian professional league union, we contacted our clubs through our general secretaries. It has a brand new facility. Likewise, we, as Trabzonspor and Rizespor clubs, have undertaken this task on behalf of the clubs that do not have the means of our Özkan Sümer Academy.”
“UNTIL THE CONDITIONS IN THE COUNTRY RETURN TO NORMAL, THEY WILL BE GUESTS IN TURKEY”
Emphasizing that almost all of the incoming athletes came from the Mariopul region, where the war was the hardest, President Ahmet Ağaoğlu underlined that they will be guests in Turkey until the conditions in their country return to normal, and said, “They no longer have houses, training fields or clubs. Especially the Association of Clubs directed the athletes in that region. Athletes between the ages of 10 and 16 come from that region. It is also clear which athletes will come to which club. These are the children and they come from such a trauma. No matter what, everyone’s homeland, everyone’s own land, their own home is where everyone wants to go. Conditions in their country are normalized. “They are our guests until they return, but even if they want to stay, our door is open to them. We are the grandchildren of ancestors who have opened their doors to people who have been in trouble for centuries, to people in trouble, who hosted them in this land,” he said.
“NO COUNTRY DOES HAVE FOREIGN CHILDREN”
Tatyana Nesterenko, the leader of the convoy from Ukraine, expressed her gratitude to the Turkish people who opened their doors to them at such a difficult time. Nesteronko said, “There is no foreign child for any country. We thank you for helping our children. We would like to thank all the Turks, the whole country, the whole nation. We hope that we will support you in some way. We hope that after the war in our country is over, we will also host you We will invite you,” he said.
On the other hand, it was reported that 12 athletes who were going to Antalya could not come to Trabzon because their plane could not catch up.