Turkish Football's Artifically Selected Champion: Başakşehir
English biologist and naturalist Charles Darwin used the term "artificial selection" to describe how humans breeded organisms according to their preffered traits. This process played a huge role in the development of civilization, whether it be in the evolution of agriculture or the discovery of new medicines. Regardless, in our day, we cannot take artificial selection by its "useful" aspects, as any human intevention in natural processes has the potential to change to entire planet for the worse. Global warming is an example for this. While we are at it, let's enlarge the scope of this term and use it outside the purviews of biology. Do you get the sense that some of things in your social life are products of artificial selection? For those who are interested in sports and football, a blazing answer to this question would be the recently crowned champion of the Turkish Super League, Başakşehir FK.
Başakşehir was founded as the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's team and carried this feature in its name (İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor). Despite its name change in 2014, Başakşehir remains a club that is supported by political power. As the sixth club to achieve the championship in the Turkish Super League's history, is unlike the other 5 title holders: It did not naturally evolve to earn its place. Let's go back in history to understand Başakşehir's story a little better.
The year is 1990... The Istanbul Mayor Nurettin Sözen founded the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality team (İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor) by merging İSKİspor (Istanbul's water works administration's club), İETTspor (Istanbul public transportation administration's club) and İtfaiyespor (the club of the fire department). The newly instituted club rose to the 3rd Division in 1991 and to the 2nd League at the end of 1992-1993 season.
THE RELEGATION UNDER ERDOGAN'S TERM
In 1994, the current President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was elected the Mayor of Istanbul. Even though Erdoğan currently boasts of Başakşehir's success and claims to be the "founder of the club", İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor did not show much success under Erdoğan's term as the mayor. The team was relegated from the 2nd League at the end of the 1995-1996 season, but rose up again in the year after. Erdoğan was the president of club during this period, up until the year 2000.
ERDOĞAN, ALBAYRAK, BAK AND THE OTHERS
After Erdoğan, Ali Müfit Gürtuna became the Mayor of Istanbul. As the mayor, he was the club's president up until 2002, when Nuri Albayrak took over. Albayrak was, in a way, doing his internship for the presidency of the fourth biggest club of Turkey, Trabzonspor. When Albayrak switched from İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor to Trabzonspor in 2005, a familiar name replaced him: The previous Minister of Youth and Sports Osman Aşkın Bak. Bak did not remain too long at his position and gave his place to the current president of the club, Göksel Gümüşdağ.
ROSE FROM ITS ASHES
When Gümüşdağ took over, everything changed for the club. At the end of the 2006-2007 season, İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor was promoted to the top tier of Turkish Football, the Super League. The team would get a much bigger slice of the football's financial pie. The manager Abdullah Avcı made İBBSpor a much more stable and consistent team. Nobody was questioning how such a team was able to play its matches in the Olympic Stadium with a capacity of 80 thousand in front of non-existent spectators or how it was able to attract important players like Okan Buruk, İbrahim Akın, Marquinhos, and Gökhan Süzen. İBBSpor was being financially supported by municipality contractors and managed to stay up in the Super League until 2013, when it was relegated. A year after, İBBSpor came back to the Super League with stronger roster, and also, a different name.
NEW IDENTITY, SAME BACKERS
By changing the İBBSpor's name to Başakşehir, the administrators were trying to tailor a new image for the team. The intended message was clear: A team playing in front of empty seats was to be replaced with a neighborhood team based in Başakşehir. Nevertheless, things did not go as planned for the renamed team. After gaining a new stadium with support from the governing AK Party, Başakşehir was still being supported by municipal contractors and was unable attract support from anyone.
In the previous 6 years, Başakşehir came close to finishing first in the Super League. It had envied sports facilities and did not deal with economic troubles as its competitors had. With its 6 year-long economic success and consistency on the field, it managed to become the champion this year.
FAMILIAR SPONSORS
Başakşehir FK's brief history is as stated above. What now? Is the team that the current AK Party regime suckled going to become one of the greats of Turkish Football? The answer is no. One only needs to look at the sponsors of the team to reach this conclusion: Macron, Mall of Istanbul, Medipol, Bürotime, BİLTUR catering, Turkish Airlines, Intercity, Ziraat Katılım, Kiğılı, İntermega, Bilcem, Fakir and the others... All of the companies and institutions are quite close the AK Party, and this shows how the regime's "golden boy" in football is fully dependent on politics for its financial success. Even though Başakşehir, with its successful sportive administration managed to cut itself a place in Turkish footballing history, as an "artifically selected" club, it has not become a part of Turkey's greater sports culture. Başakşehir's Dutch player, Eljero Elia, summed up the situtation right before they were crowned champions: "Don't expect a great celebration. We have little supporters. There could be a party in Başakşehir. There are so few people in the stands during matches and those people only come to watch the big names playing for the club. They are not really supporters."
In short, even though Başakşehir became the Turkish champions, it is a team that does not satisfy its backers, a project unsuccessful in reaching its goals.