Some Turkey soccer fans shouted: “Allahu Akbar” — Arabic for “God is great” — on Tuesday and booed the opposing Greece team during a minute’s silence for the victims of last week’s Paris attacks ahead of an international friendly.
Watched by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, some fans broke the minute’s silence for the victims of the attacks that were claimed by the Islamic State group.
The fans chanted “Allahu Akbar,” booed the Greece team and shouted slogans in favor of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Basaksehir Stadium.
Photo: AP
Turkey soccer fans regularly shout nationalist slogans at matches and it was not immediately clear if the behavior was more aimed against historic rivals Greece than condoning the Paris attacks in any way.
The game ended in a goalless draw. At a qualifying match for next year’s Euro 2016 in the central Anatolian city of Konya last month, supporters also shouted “Allahu Akbar” during a moment of silence commemorating the 102 victims of twin suicide bombings in the Turkish capital, Ankara, blamed on the Islamic State group.
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