ZCZC
BSP-06
FBL-TUR-ESP-TURAN-CRIME
Turkey football star Turan probed over ‘fight with singer’
ISTANBUL, Oct 12, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Istanbul prosecutors have opened an
investigation after Turkish football star Arda Turan, currently on
Barcelona’s books, was reportedly involved in a fight with a Turkish pop star
in which he broke the singer’s nose.
Turan, who is this season playing for Istanbul side Basaksehir while on
loan from Barcelona, was summoned to give a statement to Istanbul police over
the fight with singer Berkay Sahin, state-run news agency Anadolu reported.
The Hurriyet daily said he was released after giving a statement to police
in questioning that lasted for three hours.
Turkish media said that Turan became involved in the fight earlier this
week with Sahin outside a nightclub in Istanbul that ended with the singer’s
nose broken.
In a bizarre sequence of events, Turan then went to the hospital where the
singer was being treated clutching a gun and begging to be shot and forgiven,
the Haberturk daily said.
The attacking midfielder has for years been Turkey’s best known footballer
and is a supporter of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. But he has become
notorious for poor behaviour both on and off the field.
He was banned for a record 16 games by the Turkish football authorities in
May after he shoved and verbally abused a referee in a game for Basaksehir.
Turan had joined Basaksehir last season on loan from Barcelona, where he
had largely endured an unhappy spell on the bench after joining from Atletico
Madrid.
Erdogan attended Turan’s wedding when the footballer married Aslihan Dogan
in March last year. He won 100 caps for Turkey but looks unlikely to return
to international duty in a new-look side.
BSS/AFP/IJ/1602 hrs