Eden Kartsev was detained on Monday night by Istanbul police after being reported for a social media post in which he showed solidarity with the hostages in Gaza.
Kartsev was released after giving a statement and is expected to return to Israel shortly.
He reposted an image from another account which marked 100 days since the hostages were taken by Hamas with the hashtag “BringThemHomeNow”, according to Turkish state broadcaster TRT Haber.
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He plays for Istanbul’s Bashakshehir F.K., which has announced that he will be investigated for “violating the sensibilities of the country” and may receive disciplinary action.
Kartzev is the second Israeli player in the Turkish league to be detained and vilified in Turkish media, with the event happening the same day fellow Israeli player Sagiv Yehezkel was suspended from his club, Antalyaspor, and detained by Turkish police.
Upon returning home he said “There is no place like Israel in all the world,” he was greeted with a hug and a bouquet.
This has been amplified by Turkish President Erdogan’s decision to side with Hamas against Israel, leading to a complete freezing in relations between Israel and Turkey.
Turkish fans face similar dilemma
Turkish soccer fans faced a similar dilemma last month when it was reported that the Turkish Super Cup final which was meant to be played in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia would be postponed due to disagreements over the presence of t-shirts with the face of the Turkish Republic’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, on them.
Both the Saudis and the Turks deny that this is the reason, with the Saudis claiming the reason was due to the two Turkish teams (Galatasaray and Fenerbahce) “did not adhere to what had been agreed upon.”
While the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) and the two teams put out a joint statement, “The 2023 Super Cup … has been postponed to a later date as a result of a joint decision we made with our clubs, due to some problems in its organization.”
There had also been media reports that Turkey’s national anthem and flag would not be allowed at the final although this was denied by the TFF.
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