That’s not really how that work though! Nations and nationalisms are what we call “imagined communities” — basically they let us see ourselves as a part of something emotionally/spiritually/socially/politically/whatever across physical geography and literally years even without having a direct personal connection to it.

Like most Turks on here, you are lying, it wasn’t only soldiers who were pushed into the sea, it was also a lot of civilians. Anyone can look up the Smyrna massacre and see for themselves, not rely on your lies. Yes, we know the Allies were against the Greeks, which is why their ships didn’t help the drowning civilians but left them to die in the sea.

It seems Turkish identity is so tied up with genocide that criticising it is racist to them.

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You just have no idea what happened in Smyrna fire and after that, just like the comment above stated. That was not all about war between armies and countries/states. (Hint: There was a huge demographic change and property seizure during those times and there is a huge academic discussion on what really happened.) Framing everything only within independence war as if nothing else was happening at that time and ignoring a lot of historical context just proves the point of the comment about general history knowledge and education in Turkey.

It was not a Greek invasion, it was an attempt to liberation. These are occupied lands and before the 20th century genocide Greeks lived in those lands since the bronze age.

That “Turkish Land” that used to belong to Greece before Turkey took it during their centuries long period of subjugation and colonization of the entire region… before Turkey’s repeated genocides.

All Turkish land was conquered. 100%.

(And Turks online definitely brigade reality to hide this fact)

Nah, that’s not common knowledge in Turkey. In school you mostly hear about the Greek invasion and how the Turkish National Movement “drove them back into the sea.” That phrase is so ingrained it basically means pushing anything back where it came from — whether it’s a sports match or an argument.

Only history buffs or people who’ve read international sources usually know about the Greek civilians killed after the war, and pro athletes aren’t typically among them. I’m not a nationalist or upset about this; just sharing some inside perspective.

That said, what Şengün wrote was childish and ungraceful, but not the same as praising atrocities — more like a needlessly offensive joke you shouldn’t say outside close friends.

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Is it certain that that’s what he meant? Genuinely asking because I’m not too in tune with the history or implications.

He did. And he knows it very well.

Your mental gymnastics are impressive. As if it’s not insanely weird for a basketball player to reference a war 100 years later, after playing a GAME OF BASKETBALL against a neighboring state. Especially in the current political climate in Turkey and Europe. To frame it as totally fine, “because he meant the defeat of the army” is lunatic.

Alperen Sengun is celebrating defeating the Greek army

After a BASKETBALL game, nice.

Please, also educate us about that Armenian and Greek genocides that were systematically performed by the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish nationalists between 1914-1923, that were on much bigger scale than those you mention.

Bruh, again with this?

In Smyrna ordinary Turks did actually push ordinary Greeks fleeing the pogrom out in the Sea, so I don’t know what you’re saying.

Not his body, he means he is small minded/small as in petty and childish. You all need to get your minds out the gutter

It’s a double edged sword. Their fans are way more passionate in general than ours. No sporting event atmosphere here can match that of a big European soccer team’s.

You could say that, but on the flip side I think European fans are a lot more passionate than American fans. In football for instance, in home games you really feel the affect the fans can have on an opponent at times as the 12th man, and its v impressive to watch also.

Also, just by comparing home fans in the NBA to home fans for some euroleague teams, you can kinda see the difference. Some teams slowly getting it right, OKC and Sacramento have impressed me recently, and Clippers new arena seems cool