Marcos Baghdatis defiant over anti-Turk chant video

Marcos Baghdatis today refused to apologise after a video emerged showing him chanting anti-Turkish slogans with the Greek supporters’ group involved in crowd trouble at the Australian Open on Tuesday.

In the video Baghdatis, a Greek Cypriot, is shown chanting “Turks Out of Cyprus” after a rendition of the Greek national anthem at a barbeque held by the Hellas Fan Club, whose members were involved in scuffles earlier this week that saw police use pepper spray to control rowdy supporters.

The 2006 Australian Open finalist was shown with one of the alleged ring-leaders, who has been banned fro the rest of the tournament.

It was also reported that Baghdatis is the cousin of one of the supporters ejected from Melbourne Park after the disruption at the game between Konstantinos Economidis, of Greece, and Fernando Gonzalez, of Chile. Police removed ten people and arrested three.

Baghdatis’s actions were condemned by a Turkish Cypriot group in Australia. Hakki Suleyman, president of the Australian Turkish Cypriot Cultural and Welfare Association, said:

“This is a straight-forward provocation of our community and he is playing a different game to sport, he is not being a sportsman and should apologise.”

In a statement, Baghdatis, the world No 16, said:

“In that video from 2007 I was supporting the interest of my country, Cyprus, while protesting against a situation that is not recognized by the United Nations.

“Now I would like to concentrate on the tournament and ask everyone to respect that. I love the Australian Open and want to do well here."

While the UN does not recognize the autonomy of the Turkish area of northern Cyprus, Greek-Cypriots voted against a UN-brokered settlement in a 2004 referendum.

Cyprus has been divided between the Greek Cypriot majority and the Turkish minority since 1974, when Turkey resisted a Greek attempt to win total control of the island.

Ethnic tensions arose at the Australian Open last year when Croatian supporters clashed with Serbian fans on the opening day of the tournament.