“My Brother, My Enemy”: Karşıyaka and Göztepe apply to come together in Izmir Derby

Two teams in one of Turkey's biggest football rivalries, Karşıyaka and Göztepe of the western province of Izmir, decided to play the Izmir Derby on November 8 with fans from both teams attending the game.

The decision is groundbreaking as fans of the away team are not allowed to attend rivalry matches, and if Provincial Sports Security Board accepts the joint proposal of both teams, home team Karşıyaka and away team Göztepe's fans can attend the match for the first time in at least a decade. Due to fan violence, supporters of away teams are barred from attending the matches almost in all football rivalries in Turkey, especially leading Istanbul clubs like Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş.

A statement released by Karşıyaka Sports Club on Thursday said that both teams agreed in principle to maintain the current fair-play spirit among both teams and to play with fans from both sides attending, with similar conditions to be applied in the match which will be hosted by Göztepe in the second half of 2015-2016 football season.

The teams also asked state-run broadcaster TRT to make the necessary adjustment in the broadcasting period as the proposed hour of the match is 1:30 p.m. local time instead of 6:30 p.m. for security reasons.

Fan groups from both teams also enthusiastically supported the proposal in social media circles.

The rivalry among both teams has international recognition due to its intensity, while bloody fan riots often occur before or after the matches between two teams. The derby also holds the world attendance record in a secondary league game, as it was broken with more than 80,000 fans from both teams attending the derby in May 16, 1981.

In the latest years, fan groups of both teams have shown a reconciliatory attitude towards each other, culminating in Göztepe Chairman Mehmet Sepil attending the Euroleague Group C game between Pınar Karşıyaka and FC Barcelona Lassa on October 15, 2015 to support the Izmir team in the top-tier of European basketball.