I had the docuseries Terim queued up in my Netflix watchlist. But then The Athletic published this article about Hakan Sukur, one of Turkey’s finest footballers.
Because Sukur was a follower of Fethullah Gulen, he became an enemy of Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Not only did Turkey seize all of Sukur’s assets, but broadcasters are not allowed to mention his name. Galatasaray edited him out of its recording of their 2000 UEFA Cup championship. And according to the article, the Netflix docuseries about coach Fatih Terim makes no mention of Sukur.
There was a brief period where Sukur had opened a coffee shop in Palo Alto and you could go in, enjoy a Turkish coffee and talk soccer. I meant to visit it, but after the NYTimes wrote about his shop, he was repeatedly harassed and had to close it.
In solidarity with this poor man who has lost everything, and who Erdogan is trying to erase from history, I will not watch any film about Turkish football that does not give him his due.
Resources:
- Released: 2022-09-15 (Netflix)
- In Turkish
- IMDB
