Iceland's treatment goes far beyond scandal: Turkish opposition

A Turkish opposition party leader on Monday criticized Iceland's mistreatment of Turkey’s national football team upon their arrival on the island nation for a qualifying match.

Devlet Bahceli, head of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), condemned the incident in Iceland as a disgrace, adding that the mistreatment of the Turkish team is "beyond a scandal" and contrary to the spirit of good sportsmanship.

Speaking separately, Cemal Enginyurt, an MHP lawmaker for Ordu in northeastern Turkey, said that Turkey’s team trouncing Iceland at football is the "best answer to mistreatment."

"Europe’s envy of Turkey revealed itself in Iceland. Let's give the best response by beating Iceland 5-0," Enginyurt said.

Enginyurt said Sunday's mistreatment of the Turkish team was a clear sign of the rising racism in Europe and called on Europe not to tolerate any more such mistreatment.

Turkey on Saturday defeated France for the first time in its history, 2-0, to lead Group H in the Euro 2020 qualifiers.

When the Turkish national team arrived at Keflavik Airport on Sunday for a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifications match, Icelandic authorities made the team wait around three hours at the passport gate and subjected their personal belongings to an invasive search, according to the players.

The incident was quickly condemned by Turkey’s presidential office and aides as well as the foreign minister and party leaders.