By Su Yesildere
This year, Turkey celebrates its 100th year of the Republic. Over the last year, there had been a lack of hope in the country with the aftermath of the 6th February earthquakes and the General Election. The current government, re-elected in May, continuously expresses its hatred towards the LGBTQ+ community and does not uphold women’s rights in the country, as seen with the withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention that acts as a protection from violence for women. The political climate in Turkey has been polarised, especially since the elections. However, the Women’s Volleyball team have managed to unify the population as one.
The success of the Sultans of the Net, in the last year, has left a stamp on history. The team won the European Championship and the Nations League back-to-back, in addition to qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympics. They are now ranked first in the FIVB Senior World Rankings.
Since the summer of 2022, there have been important changes. Giovanni Guidetti had been coaching the National Volleyball team since 2017. Although he led the Sultans to some success, the tournaments never ended with victory. Thus, at the beginning of 2023, he left his place to Daniele Santarelli.
Santarelli brought new energy with him, changing some of the players who were invited to play for their National team. One of the most important changes that he made was to place Gizem Orge as the primary libero – the defensive specialist position. Liberos do not serve and are not in the rotation, which is why they are usually not on the focus. However, Orge had an exceptional performance defending unsavable spikes against some of the best spikers in the world, being one of the biggest contributors to the success of the team.
Another change in the team was the addition of Melissa Vargas. Vargas was transferred to Fenerbahce, the defending champion of the league title, in 2018. Three years after that, in 2021, she got her Turkish citizenship and had to wait two more years to be included in the National team. Although it was her first time with the team, this did not stop Vargas from becoming the Most Valuable Player in both the European Championship and the Nations League. Vargas and Karakurt playing together reduced the chances of other teams winning as they became an unstoppable attacking duo, contributing drastically to the victories.
To the women and the LGBTQ+ community of Turkey who are continuously oppressed and limited, the team represents freedom and independence. The team has two players who openly identify as LGBTQ+, Karakurt and Vargas, who achieve great success even if society, because of the underlying biases, bets against them every day. The team is empowering, and pushes individuals to pursue their dreams, despite how big they are.
The next target is the gold medal in the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics. Hopefully, the Sultans will unite the divided parts of society to celebrate their accomplishments once again.
Photo taken from Balkan Insight
