Day: April 23, 2022

Fenerbahce hammered Caykur Rizespor 6-0 in week 34 of Turkish Super Lig on Friday.

As the game started, Fenerbahce missed a goal chance and Fabricio Baiano was shown a red card in the first minute at the Rize Stadium.

The Yellow Canaries’ fans did not have to wait for long for the first goal as Diego Rossi drew the first blood in the 9th minute.

Serdar Dursun of Fenerbahce scored twice in the added time of the first half. He scored again in the 51st minute, making a hat-trick.

Enner Valencia put one in the 65th minute and Nazim Sangare declared the final score of 6-0 in the 76th minute.

After getting their sixth straight league victory, Fenerbahce placed second with 65 points, eight points behind leaders Trabzonspor, while Caykur Rizespor lay at the 18th spot with 30 points in the standings.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Real Madrid went up 2-0 in a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague playoff series against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv with 95-66 victory Friday.

French center Vincent Poirirer carried Los Merengues with 16 points and 10 rebounds at Wizink Center in Madrid.

Teammates Sergio Llull and Guerschon Yabusele contributed 17 and 16 points, respectively.

Monaco equalize series against Olympiacos

In the other playoff game of the day, AS Monaco defeated Olympiacos Piraeus 96-72 and equalized that series 1-1 at Peace And Friendship Stadium in Pireaus, Greece.

Danilo Andjusic rallied the French team with 19 points.

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv and Real Madrid will next square off April 26, while AS Monaco and Olympiacos Piraeus will play April 27.

The games will conclude May 4.

Teams with three wins in the series will reach the Final Four round which will be played in Belgrade, Serbia on May 19 – 21.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Former Portuguese football player Abel Xavier told Anadolu Agency on Friday he got to know Islam in Istanbul while he was playing for Turkish club Galatasaray in 2003.

The 49-year-old Mozambican-born Portuguese national said he was Catholic but changed his view about Islam after playing in Turkiye which had a huge effect on him becoming a Muslim.

“After retiring from football, I announced in a press conference that I converted to Islam,” he said.

Xavier, who also played for Everton and Liverpool, was a Portugal defender at the UEFA EURO 2000 where his nation were eliminated by France 2-1 with a golden goal in the semifinals.

He represented Portugal at the 2002 FIFA World Cup as the Selecao were eliminated in the group stage.

“As the azan (call to prayer) is Arabic, I don’t understand the words exactly. But I feel relaxed when I hear it. The azan relaxes me … I was happy to hear it often in Istanbul,” said Xavier, adding that he figured out Islam is a peaceful and relaxing religion.

“I found peace and freedom in Islam,” he said and “rediscovered” himself thanks to Islam.

“Sharing is important to me, and Islam is a sharing religion,” he said.

Xavier also said that he did not face any reaction in Portugal, where the majority is Christian, mainly Roman Catholic.

“Portugal is a multi-cultural country that keeps a open house to everyone. When I said I became a Muslim, I did not have any reaction. But when I dyed my hair blond, they criticized me much in Portugal. Even today, people know me by my hair color,” he said.

“We lost to France after I had handballed French forward Sylvain Wiltord’s shot in extra time of a EURO 2000 semifinal match that led to a penalty scored by Zinedine Zidane. I was then criticized much for my appearance, especially my hair color,” Xavier said, adding that it did not matter what people thought about him.

Xavier, who won the Portuguese league title with Benfica, and the English League Cup with Liverpool, ended his career in 2008.

He amassed 249 club appearances and scored six goals.

Xavier had 20 international caps for Portugal.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Many artifacts from the second and third centuries AD were unearthed in an underground city here in Mardin’s Midyat district.

Midyat, which is like an open-air museum with its history and culture, offers a magical atmosphere to visitors with its thousands-year-old stone houses, inns, mosques churches and monasteries.

Excavation teams discovered that a cave, which was found during works carried out in the historical streets and houses in the district two years ago, was not the only one, and that there were corridors within the cave which provide passages to different places.

Upon the recent discovery, excavation work was started in the area to reveal the underground city.

The underground city, which is called “Matiate,” is home to many places of worship, silos, water wells as well as passages and corridors.

Anadolu Agency viewed the underground city where excavations continue at two separate points in the Ulu Cami neighborhood.

Midyat Mayor Veysi Sahin told Anadolu Agency that excavation work, which started to reveal the underground city, is underway.

Sahin said the underground city, where ancient and medieval structures are located, will increase the touristic importance of Midyat — the shining star of the region.

He pointed out that authorities expect the number of tourists to increase from 2 million annually to 4 million after work to reveal the underground city is completed.

Sahin added that officials plan to open the underground city to tourism in parts when the excavation work is completed, adding that the area will be an important tourism destination for local and international tourists.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The Pakistani romantic comedy movie “London Nahi Jaunga,” or “I Don’t Want To Go To London,” starring Humayun Saeed and Mehwish Hayat, is being shot in Istanbul.

Producer Irfan Malik told Anadolu Agency that it is the third film he shot in Turkiye, a country he views as his second home.

“Turkiye has excellent technical facilities for filming and there is a large TV industry in the country. They said that there are 8,000 movie theaters here. I would like my films to be released here as well,” said Malik. “TV series from Turkiye are shown on Pakistani televisions, but the Turkish films are not shown in Pakistani cinemas. We aim to take steps in this regard to improve the brotherhood and good relations between the two countries.”

Underlining that he is in talks with distributors for his new movie to be screened in Turkiye, Malik said: “My goal is to broadcast this movie in Turkiye with subtitles and dubbing. Thus, this movie will be the first Pakistani movie to be released in Turkiye.”

Saeed said: “I am very happy to be in Turkiye. All Pakistanis love Turkiye. Turks also love and respect us.”

Hayat said crews started shooting the movie in Pakistan and shooting the second part continues in Turkiye.

“We are shooting the movie in a very beautiful place. I am having a great time with the professional shooting team,” said Hayat.

Underlining that Turkish television series have a great influence in Pakistan, Hayat said: “Turkish actors are very popular in Pakistan. I think Turkiye and Pakistan should work together to conduct projects involving Turkish and Pakistani players.”

The cast includes Kubra Khan, Vasay Chaudhary, Sohail Ahmed and Gohar Rasheed.

A portion of the film will be shot in London in the coming days.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Dressed up as superhero characters, university students in northwestern Turkiye scaled the facade of a local hospital to help cheer up young inpatients staying there, giving them presents through the window.

Marking the country’s National Sovereignty and Children’s Day, held every year on April 23, students from the Uludag University Caving Club in Bursa province donned the costumes and climbed up the hospital of their university’s Faculty of Medicine to deliver the gifts and put a smile on the faces of kids receiving treatment at the facility.

Speaking at the event, Rector Ahmet Saim Kilavuz said such community services were one of the university’s important duties.

In cooperation with the local electricity distributor and the university’s Cave Research Community, they distributed gifts to the children to make them happy and share the joy of the holiday, said Kilavuz.

Thanking the students, he added: “I wish our little ones good health. I hope they regain their health as soon as possible and celebrate April 23 outside the hospital.”

Medical student Nur Korkmaz, who climbed into the building to give the children their gifts, said that they had previously held an event at the oncology hospital that led to the same emotional moments.

“The happiness is so tangible in their eyes when we reach these children who can’t leave the hospital on such special days. The same for their families. It’s such a beautiful feeling I can’t describe,” Korkmaz added.

Mehmet Mustafa Erdogan, 13, one of the patients, said he was delighted by the heroes who climbed up the building gave him gifts.

“We wanted to put a smile on the faces of our children who are being treated at the hospital here, and give them a nice gift. Our Cave Research Community also participated in this effort. It was a very nice activity together,” said Gokay Fatih Danaci, general director of the local power company.

Source: Anadolu Agency