‘Emperor’ Terim plans TRNC visit
THE coach of 2018 Turkish Super League champions Galatasaray, Fatih Terim — who is dubbed “The Emperor’’ by players and the media — is planning to visit the TRNC, which he described as his “ancestoral home”.
The planned visit was divulged during a press conference attended by sports reporters from Kıbrıs, the Turkish-language sister newspaper of Cyprus Today, after Galatasaray clinched the Turkish Super League title for the 21st time by beating İzmir’s Göztepe 1-0 away last Saturday. Mr Terim said he was delighted to hear that Galatasaray fans in the TRNC were also celebrating the team’s championship win and added: ‘‘My grandfather was a Cypriot, he was born in Lefkoşa. He loved to eat traditional vegetable dishes [such as] molohiya and kolokas. I have not visited Cyprus for a long time but I want to visit soon.’’
He said that one of his assistants, Aysen Uçkan, was also a Turkish Cypriot. Commenting on international sports bans which prevent Turkish Cypriots from competing in global competitions, Mr Terim said that the bans should be scrapped.