Former Turkey international defender Ahmet Calik dies at age 27
By Ben Morse, CNN
Former Turkey international Ahmet Calik has died at the age of 27, his former club Konyaspor confirmed on Tuesday.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our football player Ahmet Çalik, who has won the love of our fans and our city since the first day he came to our Konyaspor. Our condolences to all of us, especially to the family of our football player Ahmet Çalik,” the club said on Twitter.
A statement from the Turkish Football Association said that Calik died in a “traffic accident.”
“It is with deep sadness that we learned that İttifak Holding Konyaspor football player Ahmet Çalık, who also played on our National Team, passed away as a result of a traffic accident,” it said.
“May Allah have mercy on the deceased; Our condolences to his family, relatives, Ittifak Holding Konyaspor Club and the Turkish football community.”
Calik, who primarily played as a central defender, began his career at Gençlerbirliği Ankara, before a three-year spell at Turkish giants Galatasaray, during which the club won the Turkish league title twice and the Turkish Cup.
In 2020, he moved to Konyaspor where he became a regular starter, appearing over 50 times for the club.
After progressing through Turkey’s youth teams, Calik earned eight senior caps for the country between 2015 and 2017, scoring one goal in a friendly against Moldova.
He was part of the Turkish squad for Euro 2016, but did not feature in the tournament.
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Calik played the full 90 minutes in Konyaspor’s last game on Sunday, January 9, as the club lost 1-0 at home to Sivasspor.
Galatasary paid tribute to Calik on Twitter, saying: “It is with deep sadness that we learned of the death of our former football player Ahmet Çalık. May God have mercy on the deceased and our condolences to his grieving family, his loved ones and to the Turkish sports community.”
The-CNN-Wire
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