More than a game: Turkish women’s volleyball champs become symbols, scapegoats
More than a game: Turkish women’s volleyball champs become symbols, scapegoats
On July 17, at 1:30 am İstanbul time, the Turkish women's national volleyball team claimed the top title on the world stage, becoming the country’s first team to do so in the sport.
Despite the late-hour triumph, fans were ecstatic at the waterfront Kalamış Atatürk Park, where a crowd had gathered outdoors to watch the televised match. They erupted in cheers, dancing and embracing each other when the ‘Sultans of the Net’, as the team is nicknamed, beat China 3-1 to win the Volleyball Nations League 2023 trophy.
Yet the victory comes at a time when gender equality and LGBTQ rights are seen as increasingly under attack in Turkey, and as polarization on such topics deepens along both political and cultural lines.
“Interestingly, the different sides [of the political spectrum] largely come together to recognize the success of this women’s volleyball team, but of course they say different things about it,” sociologist İlknur Hacısoftaoğlu told Turkey recap.
“One side says they are a symbol of modern Turkish women, not only with their success but also their outfits, their appearance, their strong bodies,” she continued. “The other side takes a nationalistic perspective, saying we are proud of these girls because they represent Turkey.”
Following the victory, Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan tweeted: “I congratulate the pride of Turkey, the Sultans of the Net, who achieved a historic success.” İYİ Party head Meral Akşener also praised the team on social media, writing: “You have given us great happiness, we are proud of you!”
Insultants of the net
However, their success was not celebrated by all. The conservative Islamist newspaper, Yeni Akit – which generally backs Erdoğan’s government – ran a headline referring to Sultans of the Net star player Ebrar Karakurt as “our national shame” for a tweet she had posted after the final match.
In that message, Karakurt quoted Marxist-turned-Islamist Turkish poet İsmet Özel, writing: “Around my neck are jewels made of the shame of those who judge me — the gold medal,” in a slight at her critics back home.
The paper also referred to Karakurt as a “perverted homosexual” with a “lifestyle contrary to the values of Turkish society.” This was a continuation of the homophobic attacks the young athlete has faced since she posted a photo online with her girlfriend. That post came after the team’s success in the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games raised her profile.
“Ebrar is not open about her sexual identity, but she doesn’t hide it, either – it seems she is just not bothered to explain, she is proud of her identity as a whole,” said Hacısoftaoğlu, who is an assistant professor at İstanbul Bilgi University’s Department of Sport Management. “She is a role model for free women, straight or queer.”
Following the most recent attacks, Karakurt posted another message on Twitter, writing: “The day will come when I don’t just spike on the court” above a silhouette of a volleyball player mid-spike, with broken chains trailing from the athlete’s wrists and ankles.
On women’s sports
Women athletes in Turkey have long – and often – been targeted by reactionary elements of society over their clothes, their bodies, and their behavior, according to Canan Koca, a professor at Hacettepe University’s Faculty of Sport Sciences.
She recalled past instances in which media coverage of female shot-putters and discus throwers had derided their physical builds as proof that the sports were not befitting of women. Koca also highlighted an incident where female members of the youth national volleyball team were criticized for wearing shorts on the streets of Ankara.
Women make up 35 percent of licensed athletes in Turkey, a category that includes both competitive athletes and individuals engaging in recreational sports, according to the 2021 Gender Equality in Sports Monitoring Report published by the Sports and Physical Activity for Women Association, an Ankara-based NGO.
To date, the further development of women’s sports in Turkey has been hampered by a deficit of representation at the leadership level of sports federations, where women hold fewer than 10 percent of the top posts, according to the same report.
Investments in women’s volleyball by corporations such as Vakıfbank have borne fruit in on-the-court successes, but women’s sports still take a backseat to men’s sports in terms of media attention – especially compared with the national obsession, football.
“Generally, media coverage of women’s sports is terrible. There’s very little, and what there is frequently is very gendered, with players discussed in terms of their relationships, their marriages, their femininity,” Hacısoftaoğlu told Turkey recap.
Positive coverage of LGBTQ athletes or issues is essentially non-existent. Even a very tame show of support, like when Galatasaray midfielder Taylan Antalyalı wore a Pride-themed t-shirt in 2021, drew chiding from sports commentators about being “a bad example” to children.
Symbols and scapegoats
Beyond sports, in broader political and cultural discussions, issues related to gender and sexuality are increasingly becoming hotly contested topics.
“Along with the growing success of the Turkish women’s volleyball team, an even more conservative life, politics, and social-cultural structure has come to Turkey over the past five years,” Koca told Turkey recap.
The past few years have seen Turkey withdraw from the İstanbul Convention, bans and police crackdowns on peaceful women’s marches and Pride demonstrations as well as increasingly virulent criticisms of gender equality and LGBTQ rights from Erdoğan and his allies, especially during the recent election cycle.
The latest controversy broke out last week, when Education Min. Yusuf Tekin made comments in a televised interview that appeared to be promoting single-sex education, something favored by conservative religious factions. Though Tekin has since walked back his remarks, they were referenced by many who cheered the Sultans of the Net’s victory.
“In spite of all the nonsense people and sects – who want a separate school for girls and believe that they should be locked away at home – these girls come out and become world champions … giving a slap to gender discrimination,” screenwriter Gani Müjde tweeted in a post that received 48,000 likes.
Another comment in support of the targeted player, Karakurt, came from Turkish Taekwondo world champion Kübra Dağlı, a female athlete who wears a headscarf.
“It should not be so difficult to leave aside the sexual orientation, preference, or religious stances of athletes and just congratulate them on their success,” Dağlı wrote on her Threads account, drawing criticism, in turn, from Yeni Akit and conservative clerics.
The team’s visibility and high-profile achievements have not only made them a cause for celebration or disdain, but also a reference point for what it means to be a woman in Turkey today.
“The negative, discriminatory, and sexist discourses directed at female athletes have become harsher and more targeted in recent years,” Koca told Turkey recap. “But these reactions have also created a space where women from different ideological, political, and faith segments of society have a common ground.”
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Diego Cupolo, co-founder + editor @diegocupolo
Gonca Tokyol, freelance journalist @goncatokyol
Ingrid Woudwijk, freelance journalist @deingrid
Verda Uyar, freelance journalist @verdauyar
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