ISTANBUL, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Turkish football super league champion Besiktas on Sunday hosted Chinese ambassador Yu Hongyang to Turkey at its stadium to celebrate the 68th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Yu Hongyang thanked Besiktas club for the club's move and said it showed Turkish people's friendship and the club attached much importance to developing China-Turkey bilateral relation.
Yu also said sport exchange was an important part of bilateral relation and adding "we would like to start cooperation with Turkish side in sports, especially in football."
Besiktas, nicknamed "Black Eagles" has won the recent two seasons' Turksih super league titles and made its first ever visit to China this July.
Vice chairman of the club Ahmet Nur Cebi said his club is considering to open football schools across China and hopefully build a larger fan base in China.
"This visit was a solid sign showing how much importance we are attributing to our relation with China. We want Chinese people to love us, to obtain our jerseys and become fans of our club," he stressed.
Yu Hongyang watched Besiktas' home match against another Turkish team Trabzonspor. During the match, Besiktas congratulated China's National Day in English and Chinese showing on the advertising boards surrounding the soccer field and displayed a video of its players saluting Chinese people in their mother languages.
