WORLD TODAY, vol.56, no.7, pp.7, 2000 (SSCI)
After forty years in politics, Suleyman Demirel's seven-year term as president of Turkey came to an end in the middle of May, the day before a Turkish football team won the UEFA cup. The new president, former head of the Constitutional Court, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, couldn't have timed his inauguration better. There was already a light breeze of optimism gently blowing over the country for the new president to build on, but victory on the football field brought a change of attitude. Suddenly the people of Turkey - known for their harsh self-criticism and feelings of not being the equal of other nations took the soccer win to heart. Turkey was now an equal among equals.