Cyprus-Forum.com

[utu]

MELBOURNE (AFP) — Marcos Baghdatis defended his actions Friday after being captured on video chanting anti-Turkish slogans with the Greek supporters' group involved in a clash with police at the Australian Open.

Videos circulating on the Internet, and broadcast here, show the Greek Cypriot, an Australian Open finalist in 2006, holding a flare and chanting "Turks Out" at a barbeque hosted by the Hellas Fan Club.

Members of the group were involved in a row at Melbourne Park Tuesday that saw police use pepper spray to subdue rowdy fans, with 10 people ejected and three arrested.

Baghdatis was shown arm-in-arm with the alleged ringleader of Tuesday's trouble, who has been banned from the rest of the tournament and is expected to be charged with assaulting police and resisting arrest.

In one video, the world number 16 holds a burning flare above his head and sings a chant with others condemning Turkish occupation of part of his homeland of Cyprus, reports said.

"Turks out of Cyprus," the group chants twice, after finishing singing the Greek national anthem.

The video was shot 10 months ago and surfaced on You Tube.

In a statement issued after the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) met with his management, Baghdatis offered no apology.

"In that video from 2007 I was supporting the interest of my country, Cyprus, while protesting against a situation that is not recognized by the United Nations," he said.

"Now I would like to concentrate on the tournament and ask everyone to respect that. I love the Australian Open and want to do well here."

Cyprus has been divided along ethnic lines since 1974 when Turkey invaded the island's northern third in response to an Athens-engineered coup in Nicosia aimed at union with Greece.

International efforts to reunify the island have stalled.

The Hellas Fan Club is part of a worldwide network of supporters of Hellenic athletes.

Earlier in the tournament, Baghdatis defended the Greek supporters involved in the ugly scenes this week during a match between Chilean Fernando Gonzalez and Konstantinos Economidis of Greece.

"I heard that the police came in and just started spraying, so I didn't think the fans did anything wrong," he said.

"They were just chanting loudly, maybe they were a bit drunk, but that's all."

Baghdatis beat Marat Safin in a five set thriller on Thursday and now plays Australian Lleyton Hewitt in the third round on Saturday.

Then ranked 54, Baghdatis captivated crowds and the media at the 2006 Australian Open when he vanquished seeds Andy Roddick, Ivan Ljubicic and David Nalbandian before going down to Roger Federer in the final.

This sounds to me like the HFC has definite political views - and doesn't take kindly to circumstances in order to air them... What would they do to people who don't agree with their views?

[DT.]

MELBOURNE (AFP) — Marcos Baghdatis defended his actions Friday after being captured on video chanting anti-Turkish slogans with the Greek supporters' group involved in a clash with police at the Australian Open.

Videos circulating on the Internet, and broadcast here, show the Greek Cypriot, an Australian Open finalist in 2006, holding a flare and chanting "Turks Out" at a barbeque hosted by the Hellas Fan Club.

Members of the group were involved in a row at Melbourne Park Tuesday that saw police use pepper spray to subdue rowdy fans, with 10 people ejected and three arrested.

Baghdatis was shown arm-in-arm with the alleged ringleader of Tuesday's trouble, who has been banned from the rest of the tournament and is expected to be charged with assaulting police and resisting arrest.

In one video, the world number 16 holds a burning flare above his head and sings a chant with others condemning Turkish occupation of part of his homeland of Cyprus, reports said.

"Turks out of Cyprus," the group chants twice, after finishing singing the Greek national anthem.

The video was shot 10 months ago and surfaced on You Tube.

In a statement issued after the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) met with his management, Baghdatis offered no apology.

"In that video from 2007 I was supporting the interest of my country, Cyprus, while protesting against a situation that is not recognized by the United Nations," he said.

"Now I would like to concentrate on the tournament and ask everyone to respect that. I love the Australian Open and want to do well here."

Cyprus has been divided along ethnic lines since 1974 when Turkey invaded the island's northern third in response to an Athens-engineered coup in Nicosia aimed at union with Greece.

International efforts to reunify the island have stalled.

The Hellas Fan Club is part of a worldwide network of supporters of Hellenic athletes.

Earlier in the tournament, Baghdatis defended the Greek supporters involved in the ugly scenes this week during a match between Chilean Fernando Gonzalez and Konstantinos Economidis of Greece.

"I heard that the police came in and just started spraying, so I didn't think the fans did anything wrong," he said.

"They were just chanting loudly, maybe they were a bit drunk, but that's all."

Baghdatis beat Marat Safin in a five set thriller on Thursday and now plays Australian Lleyton Hewitt in the third round on Saturday.

Then ranked 54, Baghdatis captivated crowds and the media at the 2006 Australian Open when he vanquished seeds Andy Roddick, Ivan Ljubicic and David Nalbandian before going down to Roger Federer in the final.

This sounds to me like the HFC has definite political views - and doesn't take kindly to circumstances in order to air them... What would they do to people who don't agree with their views?

why do you ask that?

[utu]

why do you ask that?

There have been cases in various countries where certain political groups - in order to have a veneer of legality - call themselves by other names. Obstensively, the Hellas Fan club are supposed to be supporters of Greek sportsmen. However, the recent aforementioned event makes them sound more like a group with a political agenda.

Last Year in Australia, HFC supporters at the australian open displayed Greek Flags with words (in Greek) emblazoned on them. Words like Cyprus and Constantinople. And these were not just a few flags. Quite a lot of flags and banners had a blatant political message... far more than would be honestly expected at a sports match.

If the HFC is espousing the annexation of Cyprus and European Turkey to Greece - which these flags seemed to be clearly indicating, then that means that their underlying principle is not supporting Greek sportspersons, but espousing an expansionist agenda.

[Eric dayi]

utu, have you ever seen GCs supporters taking part in any sports event without the Greek flag or without singing the Greek national anthem?

Everything the GCs/Greeks do has a political agenda, were it not so they would leave the Greek flag at home and sing sporting songs instead of the Greek national anthem, don't you think?

What do you expect from the youth of countries like Greece and South Greek Cyprus who teach hatred at home, school and even in their Churches?

[alexISS]

utu, have you ever seen GCs supporters taking part in any sports event without the Greek flag or without singing the Greek national anthem?

Everything the GCs/Greeks do has a political agenda, were it not so they would leave the Greek flag at home and sing sporting songs instead of the Greek national anthem, don't you think?

What do you expect from the youth of countries like Greece and South Greek Cyprus who teach hatred at home, school and even in their Churches?

Says a man whose countrymen slit the throats of "infidels". Wake up, the Greeks don't hate you any more than the rest of the world

[Eric dayi]

utu, have you ever seen GCs supporters taking part in any sports event without the Greek flag or without singing the Greek national anthem?

Everything the GCs/Greeks do has a political agenda, were it not so they would leave the Greek flag at home and sing sporting songs instead of the Greek national anthem, don't you think?

What do you expect from the youth of countries like Greece and South Greek Cyprus who teach hatred at home, school and even in their Churches?

Says a man whose countrymen slit the throats of "infidels". Wake up, the Greeks don't hate you any more than the rest of the world

Having to loose while trying to genocide us TCs and steal our lands must be very hard for you Greeks and GCs, it really shows in all of your whinging and whining postings.

[alexISS]

utu, have you ever seen GCs supporters taking part in any sports event without the Greek flag or without singing the Greek national anthem?

Everything the GCs/Greeks do has a political agenda, were it not so they would leave the Greek flag at home and sing sporting songs instead of the Greek national anthem, don't you think?

What do you expect from the youth of countries like Greece and South Greek Cyprus who teach hatred at home, school and even in their Churches?

Says a man whose countrymen slit the throats of "infidels". Wake up, the Greeks don't hate you any more than the rest of the world

Having to loose while trying to genocide us TCs and steal our lands must be very hard for you Greeks and GCs, it really shows in all of your whinging and whining postings.

I suppose that the people who had the misfortune of coexisting with the Turks have more reasons to hate you, but, surprisingly, we don't. You see, honor killings and throat slitting do not make you very popular in the civilized world

[Expatkiwi]

I suppose that the people who had the misfortune of coexisting with the Turks have more reasons to hate you, but, surprisingly, we don't. You see, honor killings and throat slitting do not make you very popular in the civilized world

And the various international critiques about Greek Xenophobia and treatment of non-ethnic Greek minorities makes you popular?

[DT.]

why do you ask that?

There have been cases in various countries where certain political groups - in order to have a veneer of legality - call themselves by other names. Obstensively, the Hellas Fan club are supposed to be supporters of Greek sportsmen. However, the recent aforementioned event makes them sound more like a group with a political agenda.

Last Year in Australia, HFC supporters at the australian open displayed Greek Flags with words (in Greek) emblazoned on them. Words like Cyprus and Constantinople. And these were not just a few flags. Quite a lot of flags and banners had a blatant political message... far more than would be honestly expected at a sports match.

If the HFC is espousing the annexation of Cyprus and European Turkey to Greece - which these flags seemed to be clearly indicating, then that means that their underlying principle is not supporting Greek sportspersons, but espousing an expansionist agenda.

You're tlaking about when the nationl team of Greece visited Oz for a friendly last year.

THe HFC had organised a welcome to the EUropean Champions with Greek flags.

Have you ever see a Turkish national team match without Flags, the usual map of the Aegean showing everything Turkish including all of Cyprus and the required 3 moons of the Grey WOlves flags?

Please!

[Expatkiwi]

D.T.,

From what I've read, the Turkish supporters do that as a response to the HFC. Yuo think they'd sit back placidly and let Hellenic Xenophobia run unchallenged?