Ergin Ataman opened up about the Greek fans booing the national anthem of Turkey prior to Friday’s preparation game.
The head coach of Turkey shared his displeasure for the incident and said they need more respect for their national anthem.
“I love Greece. We need more respect for our national anthem because we are friends. I saw people influenced by the political situation. This situation is created by the media. This situation is not good.
As a fan, a basketball coach and a member of a basketball team, I think we must be respectful to each other. But we are friends, this is the reason we are here,” Ataman told media afterwards.
With the current political situation between Turkey and Greece being complicated, both coach Ataman and coach Dimitris Itoudis made it clear that fans should behave properly and respect the national anthems.
Greece and Turkey wrapped up their preparation on Friday night and now have their sights set on the Basketball World Cup Qualifiers and the EuroBasket.
The Greeks will face Serbia (road, August 25) and Belgium (home, August 28) for the Second Round of the Basketball World Cup Qualifiers.
They will then travel to Milano in late August for the group stage of the EuroBasket, where they will take on hosts Italy, Estonia, Great Britain, Ukraine and Croatia.
Meanwhile, the Turks will play Latvia on the road on August 25 and will then host Serbia on August 28 in the Second Round of the Qualifiers.
They will then travel to Tbilisi for the group stage of the EuroBasket. They will take on Montenegro, Georgia, Spain, Bulgaria and Belgium in Group A.
