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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an avid sports enthusiast who has massively developed football infrastructure, has, in 15 years of power, always left empty-handed offers for Turkey to organize one of the major sporting events of the year. world.
On Thursday, UEFA will determine whether Erdogan's dream will finally come true when he will choose between Turkey and Germany to organize the 2024 European Championship.
Once again, Erdogan's shadow will be on the agenda, with his image as a man capable of supporting the candidacy, but his increasingly authoritarian reputation as a strong man who presides over a repression without precedent is a detrimental factor.
By an extraordinary coincidence, Erdogan will visit Germany on Thursday – which was extremely critical of Turkey during his reign – and the result will be an interesting point of discussion during talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The EU, which Turkey has unsuccessfully attempted to join for half a century, and human rights groups have denounced the crackdown that followed the 2016 failed coup d'etat and saw tens of thousands of people arrested.
UEFA itself, in an evaluation report highlighting several positive aspects of the Turkish candidacy, said that "the lack of action plan in the field of human rights" Man is a subject of concern.
– "The eyes of the world" –
And the rights are far from a theoretical issue after UEFA included it in the criteria of the tender process for the first time in Euro 2024.
"Wherever you look, human rights abuses are commonplace in Turkey," said Andrew Gardner, Turkish researcher for Amnesty International.
"UEFA must know clearly with the Turkish government that this would not be acceptable at the Euro 2024 Championship," he told AFP, adding that protests should be allowed during the event.
Jean Marcou, associate researcher at the French Institute of Anatolian Studies, however, said a record of own rights was a prerequisite, citing the holding of the World Cup by Russia's Vladimir Putin this summer.
"Under no circumstances has a country been chosen to organize a major sporting event that should be a model of democracy and the rule of law," he said.
Gardner argued that the reception of the euro could even be beneficial for the human rights situation in Turkey, as it would draw attention to the country.
"I think it has an impact because, as you have seen in Russia for example, it really puts the eyes of the world and the attention on this country," he said.
– "More positive image" –
Even before Erdogan came to power, Turkey had unsuccessfully tried to organize both the Euro and the Olympic Games.
But the seriousness and influence of the offers increased during his reign and there was a bad feeling in 2010 when Turkey lost the right to host the Euro 2016 by a vote, despite the controversy over the role of Michel Platini .
Erdogan expressed his bitterness in 2013 when Istanbul's bid was defeated by Tokyo for the 2020 Olympics, with its chances of undergoing the massive anti-government protests that swept the country this summer.
Erdogan was a semi-professional footballer in his youth and oversaw an unprecedented wave of construction of new stadiums. But perhaps on purpose, he kept his distance with the Euro 2024 offer.
Daghan Iraq, a researcher at the University of Aix-Marseille, said that for this candidacy, there was "a great lack of motivation on the part of Turkish politicians and sports personalities".
He said the growth of the Turkish economy is expected to slow significantly next year, probably for "financial reasons".
However, organizing the competition would always be a boost for Erdogan and allow him to enjoy his glory one year after celebrating in 2023 the 100th anniversary of the founding of the modern Republic.
Marcou said that the welcome of the euro would make people forget the darker sides of modern Turkey "and give the country a more positive image, especially among those who do not know it well."
