03.05.2026 18:43
Fenerbahçe presidential candidate Barış Göktürk stated that another candidate, Mehmet Ali Aydınlar, called him on the phone and offered an alliance.
Fenerbahçe Presidential Candidate Barış Göktürk met with press members at a breakfast meeting in a hotel in Kalamış. Göktürk, who announced his candidacy recently, made striking statements during his press conference.
"I WILL NOT JOIN FORCES WITH MEHMET ALİ BEY" Göktürk, who shared formulas for increasing the revenue of the Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Sports Complex, where the football A team plays its matches, through capacity expansion, said, "I believe Fenerbahçe's salvation lies in economic strength, proper football intelligence, and urgently increasing stadium capacity. We must not lose our ground. The stadium needs to be renovated for proper motivation of my players on the field. We currently have an annual revenue of 75 million euros. We can increase this to 150 million euros. A suite seat generates approximately 30 thousand euros in revenue. We have 820 seats. Our suite revenue is about 16.4 million euros at around 20 thousand euros. We are increasing this to 2,035 seats. We maintain it at around 30 thousand euros; revenue rises to 65 million euros. We are talking about a revenue increase of 25 to 40 million euros just from suites. The current administration, whether I or my friends or someone else is elected, must obtain approval for stadium renovation. This must be ratified at the general assembly. The stadium is Fenerbahçe's most important source of income. It needs to be organized as soon as possible. We must not entertain the idea of moving Fenerbahçe away from Kadıköy. We are the only team that plays in its neighborhood, which is essential for our spirit. We need to stay in our neighborhood. We see how high the sense of belonging is abroad. Capacity expansion must be done at its current location. There is no problem with that, and we are capable of doing it. If other candidates have plans to move us to some nonsense place, let's stop that now. They should not attempt to cause this harm to Fenerbahçe. We will stand against it. I will not join forces with Mehmet Ali Bey (Aydınlar). We will do what is right for Fenerbahçe. Even if I lose, I will lose honorably, but I will not lose. As members of the congress get to know me, they will walk with me. The community will see this," he said.
"MEHMET ALİ AYDINLAR OFFERED ME TO MAKE A JOINT LIST" Referring to his meeting with Mehmet Ali Aydınlar, who has been discussed as a candidate for the Fenerbahçe presidency, Göktürk said, "I met with Mehmet Ali Bey for 3.5 hours. I said, 'I am a courageous and honest person, and I expect the same from you. If you are a candidate, say you are a candidate. Then I will talk differently.' At that point, we are rivals. But if you are not a candidate, you have a financial and moral debt due to the events of July 3rd. It is said that you paid this debt by sponsoring Fenerbahçe. He sponsored Fenerbahçe, but didn't he also sponsor Galatasaray? In the last 10 years, has he given more sponsorship money to Fenerbahçe or Galatasaray? What price did he pay? Did he pay the price for my 15 years? He explicitly stated to me that he is not a candidate. I said, 'Then I am relieved, brother.' He said, 'Now things have changed. Since you are not a candidate, we need an elder figure. You have to address the damages you caused to Fenerbahçe in the past. You can make amends.' A few days ago, Mehmet Ali Bey called me. He offered that I join him and make a joint list. I told him that now things have changed. He had told me earlier, 'Even if these names are involved, I am not a candidate.' I said, 'What has changed now? Why didn't you tell me?' This caused a serious disappointment for me. Mehmet Ali Aydınlar will follow his own path and his own truth. I would have preferred that he not be a candidate and that he somehow atone for these pains we have endured, both financially and morally. We could have provided that for him," he said.