ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Amedspor defeated Turkish giants Besiktas 3-2 in Diyarbakir (Amed) on Sunday, sending the newly promoted Kurdish-rooted club into the international break at the top of the Turkish Super League in a remarkable start to their first season in the country’s top flight.
Gift Orban opened the scoring in the 13th minute at Diyarbakir Stadium before Dia Saba doubled the hosts’ advantage nine minutes later, giving Amedspor a commanding lead over the Istanbul powerhouse.
Besiktas striker Dusan Vlahovic pulled one back in the 55th minute, but Furkan Soyalp restored Amedspor’s two-goal advantage just four minutes later.
Amedspor were reduced to 10 men when Amadou Cisse received a second yellow card in the 84th minute, setting up a tense finish.
Orkun Kokcu converted a penalty eight minutes into stoppage time to make it 3-2, but Amedspor held on to secure one of the biggest victories of their maiden Super League campaign.
The victory lifted Amedspor to 13 points from six matches, level with Galatasaray but top of the standings on goal difference. They have won four matches, drawn one and lost one since earning promotion to the Super League for the first time in the club’s history earlier this year.
Amedspor have also made Diyarbakir Stadium a formidable home ground, winning all four of their league matches there so far, including victories over Trabzonspor, Basaksehir and Besiktas.
“This victory belongs to all of us!” the club said in a Kurdish-language statement after the match, thanking supporters who packed the stadium and “stood by their team until the final whistle.”
“This victory is not only the 3-2 result on the pitch; it is the shared joy of the great Amedspor family, united as one heart in the stands, in the streets, and across the city,” the statement added.
The result sends Amedspor into the international break as league leaders, giving Besnik Hasi’s side time to regroup before travelling to face Genclerbirligi on October 10. Their position after only six matches remains an early-season snapshot, but the break means Amedspor will spend the coming weeks at the summit of Turkish football after beginning the campaign as one of the league’s newly promoted sides.
Their rise carries significance beyond results on the pitch.
Amedspor is based in Diyarbakir, known as Amed in Kurdish, and has developed a large following among Kurds in Turkey and abroad. The club’s adoption of the name Amedspor in 2014 helped strengthen its association with Kurdish identity, while supporters and researchers have described the team as a shared cultural symbol for Kurds from different political and social backgrounds.
When Amedspor secured promotion to the Super League in May, thousands took to the streets in Diyarbakir to celebrate the historic achievement. The promotion of the prospect of the club reaching Turkey’s top division had generated enthusiasm among Kurds both in the country and the diaspora, with one supporter describing Amedspor as a source of Kurdish pride.
Amedspor’s first months in the Super League have placed a club closely associated with Kurdish identity on Turkish football’s biggest domestic stage.
After the Besiktas victory, that journey has reached another milestone: for the first time in their history, Amedspor sit at the top of the Turkish Super League.
“This victory is doubly important for Amedspor,” Saman Wllatzheri, a sports journalist at Rudaw who has extensively covered the club’s matches, said.
“First, it will help build greater confidence within the club, showing that they are no longer merely newcomers to the Super League. Second, Amedspor now sit at the top of the Turkish Super League standings.”
He added that Amedspor’s latest strong performance is “a reflection of the strong support the club receives from Kurds around the world, many of whom see the team not merely as a football club, but as a symbol of national identity and belonging.”
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