[lfc-news] Reds fans in fez warning - Echo

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Liverpool Echo, 17 May 2005
Reds fans in fez warning
By Tony Barrett, Liverpool Echo

LIVERPOOL supporters planning to wear a fez in Istanbul were today urged
to be sensitive to Turkish customs.

Wearing a fez is seen as insulting by many Turks, and concerns were
raised that Liverpool fans could cause offence.

One Turkish police officer visiting Liverpool in advance of the
Champions League final said: "It would offend me if I saw hundreds of
Englishmen wearing a fez, and it would also upset a lot of other people.

"But not everyone would be offended by it. It depends on your point of
view."

The fez has been a controversial issue ever since wearing them was
banned by the founder of modern Turkey, Kamal Ataturk, in 1925.

In the years immediately after the ban, those people who chose to defy
Ataturk's edict were subjected to harsh treatment by the Turkish police
and military.

Since then, Turks have been divided between those who view the fez as
harmless headwear and those who view it as an affront to their revered
former leader.

With many fezzes spotted during recent Liverpool games, it is thought
the hats have been adopted by many Reds fans prior to their visit to
Istanbul next week.

A spokesman for Merseyside police said: "We would advise all Liverpool
fans travelling to Istanbul to take notice of any advice given to them
by the local police and authorities in Turkey.

"I'm sure the Liverpool fans are looking forward to the match and their
trip to Istanbul and are hoping to enjoy a good spectacle of football as
well as the local sights in Turkey."

The move to modernise

* The fez was introduced by Mahmud II, the head of the Ottoman Empire,
in 1826 to replace the turban

* Ataturk's moves to westernise included a ban on the fez which he saw
as too closely associated with the Islamic world

* For 20 years some Turks wore fezzes in protest. Many were sent to
labour camps and some were executed

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