The incident in which Ankaraguç president Faruk Koca punched referee Halil Umut Merer after a Turkish Super League match on Monday is a stark illustration of Turkey’s culture of impunity and highlights wider issues within and beyond the world of sport.
Koca, a founder and former lawmaker of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), was arrested on Tuesday along with two others in connection to the incident, for bruising an associate. He has also been expelled from the party.
The incident, which the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) described as a “despicable attack” on Merer and the entire Turkish football community, sparked outrage on social media, with users alluding to other cases of impunity in Turkey.
Many argue that the same mentality is behind the violence targeted at women and doctors, as well as attacks on relatives of victims of the 2014 Soma mine disaster and the attack on a former Turkish opposition leader in 2019.
Yusuf Yelker, a former adviser to then-prime minister and current president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, sparked outrage in May 2014 when he kicked on camera a relative of one of the 301 victims of the mining disaster during a visit to Soma, Manisa province. The man and others were protesting, blaming Erdogan’s policies for the tragedy.
Former Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was physically assaulted by a group in Ankara’s Cubuk district on April 22, 2019, while attending the funeral of a Turkish soldier killed in a skirmish with fighters from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is waging a deadly war against the Turkish government that has claimed tens of thousands of lives. 
While Yerker was not found legally responsible for the attack, Osman Sarigun, who punched Kirçdaroglu, was only given a suspended sentence until 2022.
In Turkey, it is also common for patients and their relatives to attack doctors, demanding immediate treatment or blaming them for the deaths of their loved ones. Doctors frequently complain that such attacks are on the rise because of insufficient punishment for attackers.
Victims of domestic violence also complain about widespread impunity for perpetrators. Many women’s rights groups say the lack of impunity for men who perpetrate violence against women normalizes the violence and reinforces it through both state policies and societal traditions.
“Kicks, slaps, punches, violence… different perpetrators but the mindset is the same!” said a user on X, formerly known as Twitter, sharing photos of the attack by Yerkel and Sarigyun.
Eat, eat, eat, eat… delicious, delicious, delicious, delicious! pic.twitter.com/koj78DOBbH
— Osman Aydogan (@_OsmanAydogan) December 12, 2023
“The people who hit Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu, our doctor and the person who hit Mr. H. Umut Merel share the same mindset. And they benefit from a common environment. [the culture of] “There will be no impunity,” said another X user.
Former CHP lawmaker Husnu Bozkurt said punching a referee was “unacceptable” and a result of a culture created by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) over the past two decades, during which all forms of violence in the country reached their peak, he added.
AKP was founded in 2011 and is currently a leading company operating in the United States.
What did she do before she went to sleep at night? Was she a doctor, a nurse, or did she want to be a doctor?
Laik Bilimser Etimi, Hokkuk Devretini Katredaz, Okadur Budur.Follow pic.twitter.com/MZRngSkLBC
— HsnBozkurt (@HsnBozkurt) December 12, 2023
“Any punch landed on the referee is always landed on the entire nation. The fist that hits the referee’s face is the fist of a power-drunk government,” Mustafa Yeneroglu, a former ruling AKP politician and now deputy leader of the opposition Democratic and Progressive Party (DEVA), said in a press statement to parliament on Tuesday.
🔥DEVA Part Public Mustafa Yeneroğlu:
“I can eat as much of what I like as I like. I can eat as much of what I like as I like.”pic.twitter.com/oQpY7hdUS9
— Damga Devaya (@bizimbusevda) December 12, 2023
Meanwhile, Amedspor president Aziz Elard told news website Arti Gerçek on Tuesday that Koca would not have had the courage to use violence against the referee if necessary measures had been taken in the past regarding attacks on Amedspor.
On April 24, 2016, during a match between Ankaragucu and Amedspor in Ankara, assailants, including an Ankaragucu official, brutally attacked five Amedspor officials with wooden and metal rods. Amedspor official Haldi Soran Mizrak was pushed from a height of 2.5 meters by the assailants. As a result of the attack, three Amedspor officials suffered broken noses and one suffered a concussion.
In response to the incident, the TFF ordered Ankaragucu to play two home matches behind closed doors and two at neutral venues, as well as fined them 25,000 Turkish lira ($860).
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