I was genuinely delighted when Ali Koç became the president of the Fenerbahçe Sports Club. I even wrote an article in his support, offering advice. You can read that at https://www.serhansuzer.com/tr/ali-koca-dost-tavsiyeleri . Unfortunately, none of the warnings I included in that article were heeded, and everything I feared came true. Consequently, I was compelled to write my article, which you can read at https://www.serhansuzer.com/tr/ali-koc-ve-onun-gibilerin-kisa-devreleri.
As the expected success, especially in football, continued year after year, Ali Koç’s initially positive demeanor began to completely change. Unfortunately, he began to forget all his responsibilities to society and reverted to fanaticism. I say “fanaticism” because those who knew Ali Koç before he took on the role of club president know this. I don’t mean that he’s a bad person. He may be a good person at heart, but those close to him know how quickly he can lose control of himself and react negatively and violently. For those who don’t know, just watch this interview he gave in the past: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5hAsHULT-A/?igsh=aXp4emc3eDhobW1h
Living in a created illusion
That’s why it was a mistake from the start for someone of Ali Koç’s stature to pursue a position like club president, a position that requires constant presence on stage. I think he harbors regrets about this as well. I don’t know if he sees the harm he’s doing to himself, his family, Fenerbahçe, and Turkey. I hope he has some sensible people around him, warning him about his mistakes.
I can also see that most people around him are fueling him, provoking him, and creating an illusion. This includes a group that says, “We stand behind Fenerbahçe no matter what.” Fanaticism is such a thing that it disconnects you from reality and causes you to live in an illusion. Whenever someone reminds these people of the truth and says, “The emperor is naked,” they become enraged and attack with ferocity. They do this in a mass and organized manner to increase the impact of the attack. This action is now called trolling.
“What kind of mindset do these people have?”
After my last post, I read the comments of a few fanatics on Facebook and LinkedIn with sadness. Even though I didn’t agree with their content, I exchanged ideas with those who had a sound tone, as it should have been done. At least, I got to know their perspective and share my own.
I also encountered the brainwashed trolls who came to attack. I laughed at some of the comments, which were far from reality and bordered on insults, and I asked myself, “What kind of mindset do these people have?” Of course, to avoid wasting my valuable time, I blocked these few people without hesitation. This was also the first time I’d encountered female trolls. I knew women were generally passionate about their work, but the existence of women who should be the pillars of society and engaged in such negative, false, and inaccurate activities made me think. Fanaticism knows no gender, creed, language, religion, or race, and I’m sad to say that fanaticism has become pervasive in the society we live in.
Impressions from a volleyball match
I’d like to share another vivid example. Last week, because my friend’s daughter plays volleyball for Eczacıbaşı, we decided to go to a volleyball match. When we looked at the calendar, we realized there were only playoff matches left and Eczacıbaşı would be playing at home against Fenerbahçe the following week, so we bought tickets. We went to that match last night. I’d like to share two scenes I witnessed.
First, on one side, Eczacıbaşı fans, who had come with their families, were celebrating and applauding after every point, occasionally shouting “Eczacıbaşı!” On the other side, the Fenerbahçe fans, who had filled most of the stadium despite being on Eczacıbaşı’s home turf, were chanting “Fenerbahçe to the death” and “The greatest Fenerbahçe, always and everywhere.”
In the second incident I witnessed, because the stadium wasn’t as fiercely contested as the Fenerbahçe-Galatasaray rivalry, the fans were able to sit close together in some areas. I was watching the match in a mixed-use area. An Eczacıbaşı fan, celebrating after scoring a crucial point, was being harassed by a female Fenerbahçe fan in her 50s, who was standing right behind her, saying, “Look at that one! How is he celebrating? It’s as if he won the match!” The fanaticism was so extreme. We’re talking about people who can’t even stand the joy of a simple fan in their own stadium, who doesn’t bother anyone.
Fanaticism in every aspect of life
Incidentally, I want to emphasize that this article isn’t focused on Fenerbahçe. I wrote an article about Ali Koç, and my subsequent experiences motivated me to write about it. In fact, fanaticism exists in all teams. In fact, some teams even have very extreme examples.
Fanaticism manifests itself not only in sports, but in every aspect of life. Religious/sectarian fanatics, local fanatics, racist fanatics, fanatics loyal to leaders, political party fanatics, etc.
To understand the gravity of the issue, I’d like to define fanaticism in my own words: Fanaticism is the act of rejecting or violently suppressing a different idea, while only considering one’s own beliefs as true.
Reasons for Turning to Fanaticism
When we get to the heart of the matter, I believe there are two fundamental factors that lead people to fanaticism:
1) Lack of consciousness: Consciousness is generally considered the center of human awareness, emotion, perception, and knowledge. When this faculty is underdeveloped or lost for various reasons, it creates room for fanaticism. As Vladimir Bartol said, “The lower the level of consciousness, the greater the fanaticism.”
2) Conditional happiness: We have become a nation of unhappy people. I won’t go into the reasons for this, but there are millions of people around who are extremely unhappy, angry, spewing resentment, and ready to fight at any moment. These people tend to become fanatics to feel alive and experience even fleeting happiness. For example, they support a team, and when that team wins or wins the championship, they’re happy, and they want to make this happen consistently. In the real world, there’s no such thing as constant success. For example, there are 19-20 teams in the league, and usually one of 4-5 of them wins. But there’s no rule that one team will always win. So, don’t be overjoyed when your team wins, nor do you get caught up in the “world has fallen apart” mood when you lose the championship.
Or else some join a cult. They experience joy and happiness when they spend time with the cult leader or complete a given task. They act on group psychology, trying to prove themselves and gain a place in the cult. In that environment, they can accept everything they’re given without question and become fanatics. A social disease that can lead to destruction.
Fanaticism, in my opinion, is like dynamite planted beneath societies. Fanaticism, one of the biggest problems facing countries, can insidiously and deeply take over an entire society, like a cancerous cell, causing the destruction of that country. We have witnessed the consequences of this many times throughout history (World War II, civil wars, etc.). Humanity has suffered greatly during periods when fanaticism has taken over society. Just as people die when cancerous cells take over the entire body, so too do countries collapse when they are taken over by fanaticism.
Methods to Combat Fanaticism
Therefore, actively combating fanaticism is one of the most important duties of national governments. There is much work to be done in this regard, and I list the first methods that come to mind below:
- Drying up the sources of fanaticism (financial, human resources, etc.).
- Establishing rules to prevent it from reaching a level that harms people.
- Struggling to ensure uncompromising compliance with these rules and allocating resources.
- Imposing severe sanctions and penalties on those who violate the rules.
- Rewarding good citizens who contribute to society and do not live in extreme situations.
To better illustrate the extent of the danger, we can say that fanatical behavioral tendencies can even lead to the end of humanity (nuclear war, etc.). For humanity to develop healthily, fanaticism must not be allowed to fester. We all know this is very difficult under current circumstances, but the fight must begin somewhere and be systematically addressed to eradicate it from all societies.
Tag: memoir
