Sports

Beşiktaş (1903)

Oldest sport club in Turkey, Beşiktaş is one of the 3 major clubs in Istanbul. It has 15 Turkish National League championship. The unofficial symbol of the club is "Black Eagle". Beşiktaş is also well known with its passionate fan group called "Çarşı".

Fenerbahçe (1907)

"Yellow Canaries" are the other major club of Istanbul, based in Kadıköy district. They won Turkish National League 19 times. Fenerbahçe Ulker basketball team is also very successful in Europe.

Galatasaray (1905)

Rival of the Fenerbaçe and Beşiktaş, Galatasaray won 21 league titles. Also football team won 2000 UEFA Cup and 2001 UEFA Super Cup. The nickname of the club is "Aslanlar (Lions)".

Naim Süleymanoğlu (1967-2017)

Born in Bulgaria, Naim Süleymanoğlu was a was a Turkish world and Olympic Champion in weightlifting, who was nicknamed “The Pocket Hercules” because of his small stature of 1.47 m.

Tanju Çolak (1963-)

He is a retired football player who played as a striker. He scored 240 in 9 seasons and broke the legendary record of Metin Oktay.

Yasemin Dalkılıç (1979-)

She holds numerous records in different categories of free diving. Though still in the middle of her career, she is already considered to be one of the all-time greats in the sport.

Mirsad Türkcan (1976-)

He is a former basketball player of Serbian origin. He is the first Turkish player who played in NBA. A three-time All-EuroLeague Team member, he is also the fourth best rebounder in the EuroLeague, since the year 2000, with 1,287 total rebounds.

Semih Saygıner (1964-)

He is world champion professional carom billiards player specialized in three-cushion event.

Sinan Şamil Sam (1974-2015)

He was a Turkish heavyweight professional boxer. Sam won EBU, World Boxing Council and WBC Mediterranean titles. According to his former managers, Sam died after battling liver and kidney failure.

Hamza Yerlikaya (1976)

He is a famous Graeco-Roman style wrestler. He won two times in Olympics (1996 and 2000) and three times World Championship (1993, 1995 and 2005). He was named The Wrestler of the century in 1996 by FILA.

Kenan Sofuoğlu (1984-)

He is a former motorcycle racer who won the highest number of Supersport World Championship titles – five, in 2007, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2016.