16.04.2025 01:30
It has been revealed that the municipality's attempt to grant honorary citizenship to terrorist leader Abdullah Öcalan in Florence, Italy, in 2001 was thwarted by the intervention of the then Fiorentina head coach Fatih Terim.
Honorary citizenship was granted to terrorist leader Abdullah Öcalan in the city of Bologna, Italy. In line with the scandalous decision taken by the municipality, the honorary citizenship certificate was delivered to Abdullah Öcalan's nephew and DEM Party Şanlıurfa Member of Parliament Ömer Öcalan.
PREVENTED BY FATIH TERIM'S INTERVENTION Following this development, events that took place in 2001 in Florence, Italy, resurfaced years later. The municipality's attempt to grant Öcalan the title of 'honorary citizenship' was prevented by the intervention of the then Fiorentina head coach Fatih Terim.
REVEALED BY THE STATEMENT OF THEN FOREIGN MINISTER ISMAIL CEM According to Odatv's news, this intervention, which did not come to the public's attention at the time, was revealed by the statements of then Foreign Minister Ismail Cem. Responding to a journalist's question about how he evaluated Terim's decision to coach a foreign team, Cem said the following regarding the matter: "That is a matter for Fatih Terim to know. He will probably improve relations between the country he is going to and Turkey. Fatih is also our representative. For example, the Florence Municipality was going to make a ridiculous decision. Fatih intervened and prevented it."
Former Foreign Minister Ismail Cem MET WITH GREAT REACTION The plan of the Florence Municipality to grant honorary citizenship to Abdullah Öcalan on December 12, 2001, was met with great reaction, especially from the Turkish public.