Eight hundred kilometers from the Black Sea coast, the small village of Kökez in central Türkiye feels unmistakably like Trabzon, wrapped head to toe in claret and blue and united by a decades-long devotion to Trabzonspor.
Tucked into Aksaray’s Eskil district, Kökez is one of Turkish football’s most striking examples of collective loyalty.
From house doors and walls to flags, kits and even daily life details, Trabzonspor’s claret-blue colors dominate the landscape.
Visitors arriving for the first time are often stunned by the illusion: this is central Anatolia, yet it looks and feels like a neighborhood on the Black Sea.
Nearly all of the village’s roughly 180 households identify as Trabzonspor supporters.
Cars roll through the narrow streets bearing “61” license plates, Trabzon’s provincial code, despite Aksaray’s being “68,” a small but telling symbol of how far this passion goes.
Locals sum it up with the club’s famous chant: “Bize her yer Trabzon”, everywhere is Trabzon.
While affection for Trabzonspor in Kökez dates back to the 1970s, villagers point to one defining moment: the club’s 1983-84 Süper Lig title.
That championship, Trabzonspor’s fifth, cemented the claret-and-blue identity in the village. What began as admiration became tradition, then inheritance.
Today, that loyalty spans generations.
Children grow up in Trabzonspor colors, elders recall title races from decades past, and even newcomers, teachers, the village imam, are quickly absorbed into the shared football identity.
In Kökez, supporting Trabzonspor is less a choice than a way of life.
That devotion is more than just symbolic.
Kökezspor, the village’s amateur team, competes in regional competitions wearing full claret-and-blue kits.
During the Eskil Municipality’s inter-village football tournament, where 19 teams took part, Kökezspor stood out not only for its colors but for the community support that followed it to every match.
Recently, the village added a new focal point: a covered artificial turf pitch built entirely through community effort. Designed to give children a safe place to play and steer them away from negative influences, the facility is unmistakably Trabzonspor-themed, from the pitch surface to the stands and surrounding details.
Village headman Tuncer Derin describes Kökez as a living extension of the club’s culture.
“Our love for Trabzon goes back to the 1970s, but we embraced the claret and blue after the 1983-84 championship,” Derin said. “From age 7 to 70, everyone here is a Trabzonspor fan. Even our newborns feel like they’re born into it. We built this pitch with our own means for our children, and even its colors are claret and blue. Kökez feels like a Trabzonspor academy outpost.”
With the pitch now complete, the village has one clear wish: to host Trabzonspor figures for the official opening.
Derin and the community have invited club executives, supporter groups, and former or current players to attend, anyone from the Trabzonspor family who can make the journey.
Eskil Mayor Mustafa Zavlak has echoed that invitation, praising Kökez’s initiative and unity. “They built this facility with their own resources and dressed it entirely in Trabzonspor colors,” he said. “We invite the Trabzonspor community to the opening.”
For villagers like Habib Derin, who proudly calls himself the most fanatical supporter, the message is simple. “My door is claret and blue. My car plate starts with 61,” he said. “For us, everywhere is Trabzon. We’re ready to welcome the Trabzonspor family.”
