ISTANBUL: Ukraine’s envoy to Turkey on Thursday expressed “sadness” over a chant of “Vladimir Putin” that rang out at a Champions League qualifying round football match in Istanbul involving Dynamo Kyiv.
Images on social media showed a section of Fenerbahce’s packed stadium singing the Russian president’s name in response to Dynamo’s first goal against the Istanbul side on Wednesday.
The Ukrainians won the match 2-1 after drawing 0-0 in the home leg played in Poland because of Russia’s invasion.
They now progress to the third round of qualifying while Fenerbahce are knocked out.
“It is very sad to hear the words of support from Fenerbahce’s fans for a Russian murderer and aggressor who bombed our country,” Ukraine’s ambassador Vasyl Bodnar tweeted.
Fenerbahce said their fans’ behavior “does not represent the stance and values of our club.”
But the club also argued that the chant “lasted only 20 seconds” and issued no formal apology.
“We condemn both our country and our club being implicated on this issue,” Fenerbahce said in a statement.
Europe’s football governing body UEFA said it was appointing an ethics and disciplinary investigator to look into “alleged misbehavior” by the Istanbul fans.
Putin’s name is associated in Kyiv with both the five-month invasion and a Kremlin-backed separatist conflict that has claimed more than 14,000 lives in Ukraine’s southeast since 2014.
Putin now questions the Ukrainian nation’s right to exist and brands its leaders as “Nazis” who must be deposed.
Dynamo’s irate Romanian coach Mircea Lucescu refused to attend the mandatory post-match press conference in protest at the chant.
“I did not expect such a chant,” he said in a statement released to Turkish media. “It is a pity.”
Turkey is generally popular among many Ukrainians because of its military support for Kyiv’s Western-backed government.
The Ukrainian army has used Turkey’s Bayraktar TB2 combat drones to attack Russian armored columns and slow the Kremlin’s push into the Donbas war zone in the east.
Ukraine now has a “Bayraktar” radio station and the drones feature in popular songs.
The private company said on Thursday it was donating another drone to Ukraine in response to a fundraising effort in Poland aimed at collecting millions of dollars for the purchase of one of the unmanned aerial vehicles on Kyiv’s behalf.
The Ukrainian ambassador thanked Turkey’s drone makers in another tweet.
“Bayraktar will remain a symbol of friendship between our countries for many years,” Bodnar wrote.
But Turkish media report that Putin has suggested to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Russia — in search of better combat drone support — start producing the Bayraktars to help its own war effort.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not deny the offer when asked about it by reporters on Wednesday.
“Military and technological cooperation is always on the two countries’ agenda,” Peskov said.
Ukraine laments ‘Vladimir Putin’ chant at Istanbul match
https://arab.news/wy6m3
Ukraine laments ‘Vladimir Putin’ chant at Istanbul match
- Dynamo’s irate Romanian coach Mircea Lucescu refused to attend the mandatory post-match press conference in protest at the chant
- Turkey is generally popular among many Ukrainians because of its military support for Kyiv’s Western-backed government
Trump administration labels 3 Muslim Brotherhood branches as terrorist organizations
- The State Department designated the Lebanese branch a foreign terrorist organization
- “These designations reflect the opening actions of an ongoing, sustained effort to thwart Muslim Brotherhood chapters’ violence,” Rubio said
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration has made good on its pledge to label three Middle Eastern branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations, imposing sanctions on them and their members in a decision that could have implications for US relationships with allies Qatar and Turkiye.
The Treasury and State departments announced the actions Tuesday against the Lebanese, Jordanian and Egyptian chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood, which they said pose a risk to the United States and American interests.
The State Department designated the Lebanese branch a foreign terrorist organization, the most severe of the labels, which makes it a criminal offense to provide material support to the group. The Jordanian and Egyptian branches were listed by Treasury as specially designated global terrorists for providing support to Hamas.
“These designations reflect the opening actions of an ongoing, sustained effort to thwart Muslim Brotherhood chapters’ violence and destabilization wherever it occurs,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “The United States will use all available tools to deprive these Muslim Brotherhood chapters of the resources to engage in or support terrorism.”
Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were mandated last year under an executive order signed by Trump to determine the most appropriate way to impose sanctions on the groups, which US officials say engage in or support violence and destabilization campaigns that harm the United States and other regions.
Muslim Brotherhood leaders have said they renounce violence.
Trump’s executive order had singled out the chapters in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt, noting that a wing of the Lebanese chapter had launched rockets on Israel after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel that set off the war in Gaza. Leaders of the group in Jordan have provided support to Hamas, the order said.
The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928 but was banned in that country in 2013. Jordan announced a sweeping ban on the Muslim Brotherhood in April.
Nathan Brown, a professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University, said some allies of the US, including the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, would likely be pleased with the designation.
“For other governments where the brotherhood is tolerated, it would be a thorn in bilateral relations,” including in Qatar and Turkiye, he said.
Brown also said a designation on the chapters may have effects on visa and asylum claims for people entering not just the US but also Western European countries and Canada.
“I think this would give immigration officials a stronger basis for suspicion, and it might make courts less likely to question any kind of official action against Brotherhood members who are seeking to stay in this country, seeking political asylum,” he said.
Trump, a Republican, weighed whether to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization in 2019 during his first term in office. Some prominent Trump supporters, including right-wing influencer Laura Loomer, have pushed his administration to take aggressive action against the group.
Two Republican-led state governments — Florida and Texas — designated the group as a terrorist organization this year.
