Kerem Akturkoglu interview: ‘People suffered in the earthquakes. You take that with you’

Kerem Akturkoglu doesn’t remember much about being trapped under the rubble of an earthquake.

Which isn’t particularly surprising: he was only 10 months old at the time. Akturkoglu was living with his family in Izmit, about 60 miles east of Istanbul in the Kocaeli province of Turkey, when an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale hit in the middle of the night in August 1999.

Akturkoglu’s grandfather was mayor of the town, so had the double horror of dealing with the disaster both professionally and personally. He led the search for baby Kerem, who was found alive and well, and the Akturkoglu family emerged relatively unscathed in a physical sense.

But the physiological impact on his family was profound, and it was why Akturkoglu — now at Galatasaray, for whom he scored twice against Manchester United this season — felt like he had to do something when southern Turkey was devastated by a series of earthquakes in February 2023.

“I was with my family and the first thing I said was: ‘I need to be there,’” he tells The Athletic.

Many clubs around Turkey responded to the disaster by sending aid, and the league was suspended for weeks as the broader football community tried to make sense of what happened. Particularly as it hit two of their number, Hatayspor and Gaziantep, so hard. Christian Atsu, the former Chelsea and Newcastle winger, played for Hatayspor and died in the earthquake, and both clubs withdrew from the Super Lig as the shattered region dealt with unimaginable tragedy.

Galatasaray were among the clubs who sent aid, with their vice-president Erden Timur travelling to the region to coordinate and offer what help he could.

Akturkoglu went with him. He hasn’t talked publicly about what he did until now, and it takes some coaxing, but ultimately he explains why it wasn’t really a choice to go, that because of his personal history, he had to help beyond sending money.

“In our culture — in Turkish or Islamic culture — we don’t really like to talk about what we have done, or what we have given away. We say: ‘You help, but don’t talk about it’. Help in silence. That’s why I’m quite shy talking about it now.”

But it’s a story worth telling.

“For people who experienced the 1999 earthquake, they’re the ones who really understand what it means to be a victim, and my family was a victim of it, even though I was very young,” Akturkoglu continues.

Timur and the club provided practical help for the victims but Akturkoglu was able to provide genuine empathy.

“The vice-president organised some big trucks with aid for the region,” he says. “We were helping bring this stuff out to the people, to the families. That was one part, but being there with people who had lost family members, or were still waiting to see if their family members were under the rubble. Just to talk to them. This mental support was so important. I walked around talking to people, comforting them.”

Akturkoglu also auctioned a match ball from a game in which he scored a hat-trick, a 7-0 win against Istanbul Basaksehir last season, with the proceeds going to the aid effort.

“They asked us to give something personal, which means a lot to us. Many of us financially helped, which is very important. But on the other hand, the personal touch, to understand the feelings of people on the ground, was important too. If I could be there, and even if I gave them a little bit of hope, I would achieve something.”

There were a few double takes as people recognised one of the biggest football stars in the country carrying boxes of supplies but for the most part everyone was too busy, too consumed by the catastrophe to bother with celebrity.

“I heard stories about people who had lost family members. Being part of their sadness, trying to comfort them, and when they said ‘thanks for being with us’ — that felt so important. You feel like you become part of it, that you’re with them. They suffered so much, losing family members, that you share this moment. That’s so valuable. It meant a lot to me. You take that with you, and you feel like you’ve done your duty.

“When you’re there you see it, you feel it. You talk to someone who lost someone… it’s hard not to cry. It’s difficult — if you cry you show them you’re part of it but you want to stay strong for them. I felt myself in between (those two things) all the time. To experience it — it’s different to just watching on TV.”

The season was suspended from the first week in February to early March. But when it resumed, Akturkoglu was a key player in the Galatasaray team that ran away with the title, eventually beating their great rivals Fenerbahce by eight points.

The two are at it again this season: they have virtually identical records, both on 40 points after 15 games (third-place Kayserispor are way back on 29), each only drawing one and losing one. The clash between the two on December 24 will be one for the ages, especially as they meet again less than a week later, in the Turkish Super Cup being staged in Riyadh.

This perhaps isn’t a surprise given the amount of money the two Istanbul giants spent last summer, both going on an old-school Turkish spending spree. Fenerbahce brought in Edin Dzeko, Fred and Dusan Tadic; Galatasaray made Mauro Icardi’s loan permanent and added Wilfried Zaha, Tanguy Ndombele (on loan), Hakim Ziyech and Davinson Sanchez.

The Zaha signing in particular was significant for Akturkoglu because it meant a shift in position: usually playing off the left, he has instead spent much of this season as a No 10, and has thrived. When a club the size of Galatasaray recruits big names from abroad, it’s often the local players that suffer but Akturkoglu appears to have excelled in the new role.

“It gives me more possibilities to improve my game,” he says. “For years, I played only on the left but now I am playing more in the middle — it’s a challenge but also it’s an opportunity for me. For me it’s like, ‘Hey, I need to be even better now to keep my place’, and that motivates me. The better the players coming in, the better it is for me.”

It also serves as preparation, when the time comes for him to move on. Akturkoglu is already thinking about what’s next in his career, with ambitions set high.

“It’s definitely a goal to take the next step in my career when the time is right, to play in one of the top leagues and for one of the top teams. That’s why I train hard every day. The games I play now are all a process — I’m getting better every year. As long as I do that, the next step in my career will come naturally.

“For me, playing with these players already of this level, it prepares me for if I go to another league — the adaptation phase will be short, or not at all.”

The title race is one thing but the Champions League is another entirely. Galatasaray remain the only Turkish club to win a European trophy (the 2000 UEFA Cup, when they beat Arsenal on penalties) and while nobody expects them to lift the big one this season, should they beat Copenhagen today (Tuesday), they will go through to the knockout rounds for the first time in a decade.

And Akturkoglu has played a big part in that with his goals against United: the first a neat finish at Old Trafford as Galatasaray won 3-2, the other a thumping drive in that madcap 3-3 draw in Istanbul a fortnight ago, the only goal that night which couldn’t be pinned on an Andre Onana mistake.

“It was a dream come true. It was a dream to play and score in the Champions League, and such a special two goals against a team like Manchester United makes it even better.”

After those goals, you may have noticed Akturkoglu’s goal celebration, in which he waves an imaginary magic wand in the air. It’s an homage to Harry Potter.

“There are some similarities between Harry Potter and me — we share the same colours (red and yellow, for Galatasaray/Gryffindor), we have the same number (seven, the character’s Quidditch shirt) and when I wear my round glasses… some fans started calling me ‘Kerem Potter’.

“It’s not something I created, it’s the fans. Now the celebration is kind of a part of me. Even in training, my team-mates are doing it. In the last game (against Adana Demirspor), I scored but fell and was a bit injured, so Dries Mertens started to do the celebration.”

There is a good chance that everyone might see quite a bit more of that celebration if Akturkoglu’s progression continues. A key man for the national team, if he stars for Turkey at next summer’s European Championship, he will be in demand, particularly if they go further in Europe and win another league title.

But even if none of that happens, Akturkoglu is perhaps in a better position than most to know what else matters, and what life away from football really means.

(Top photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)