Reuters. Cries of "government resign" rang out from Turkish football stadiums at the weekend as fans criticized the government's response to this month's earthquakes that have killed more than 50,000 people in southern Turkey and northern Syria.
Three weeks after the devastating earthquakes, which left 1.5 million homeless, public anger and opposition towards President Tayyip Erdogan is growing, months before he faces the toughest parliamentary and presidential elections of his 20 years in power.
Erdogan has toured shattered cities, promising rapid reconstruction and punishment for constructors who skirted safety regulations but that may not be enough to convince angry survivors who say emergency rescue teams were too slow to deploy.
Thousands are still without basic needs such as shelter and sanitation after the quake.
Some football clubs disagreed with the protests. Caykur Rizespor, the team based in President Tayyip Erdogan's hometown Rize, called the protests "provocative acts" and protesters "sewer rats" in a statement on Twitter.
Sports Minister Mehmet Kasapoglu said sport was no place for politics and blamed certain interest groups for engaging in "targeted provocations" to break the country's unity.
Dozens of members and supporters of the far-left opposition party Workers' Party of Turkey were detained in central Istanbul on Sunday (February 26) at an anti-government protest, the party said.
