Turkey arrested second Israeli soccer player for expressing solidarity with Hamas victims

Another Israeli footballer faces legal problems in Turkey for showing solidarity with Hamas hostages. Eden Kartsev, midfielder for the Istanbul Başakşehir team, was detained by Turkish authorities after posting a message on social media that called for "bringing[the hostages] home now."

Turkish authorities detained Jehezkel on Monday. The footballer was later released and is scheduled to return to Israel. However, it was reported that Başakşehir opened an investigation against him for sharing a message through social networks that goes against “the feelings” of his country, and supposedly “violates the disciplinary rules” of the football club.

It should be noted that Başakşehir is considered a club linked to the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been extremely critical of the defense operations that Israel has carried out in Gaza after the massacre carried out by Hamas.

Kartsev's arrest came shortly after the arrest and deportation of Sagiv Jehezkel, another Israeli soccer player who decided to pay tribute to the victims of the terrorist group when celebrating a goal by displaying a message that said "100 days, October 7," in reference to the time the hostages have been in captivity of the terrorist group, and to the date when Hamas attacked Israel.

Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tuncen said a judicial investigation had been launched against Jehezkel for alleged public incitement to hatred and hostility. In addition to this, Jehezkel was deported by local authorities and suspended from his soccer team.

Turkey has become a “dark dictatorship”

After the arrest of the footballers, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yisrael Katz, denounced that “Turkey has become a dark dictatorship, which works against humanitarian values and the values of sports,” and highlighted that arresting a soccer player for making a gesture of solidarity to the more than 130 hostages who have been held by Hamas, represents “a culture of murder and hatred.”

Due to what happened, Katz has asked the international community to punish Turkey for its actions.