Former Turkey defender Ahmet Yilmaz Calik dies in a horror car crash

The 27-year-old defender lost his life when his car went out of control and overturned.

Former Turkey football team defender Ahmet Yilmaz Calik died in a horror car crash near the capital of Turkey, Ankara. The Konyaspor defender was driving the vehicle and was heading towards Ankara from Konya to finalise some paperwork ahead of his wedding in February.

The crash happened at around 9 am local time on Tuesday when his car went out of control due to slippery conditions. Calik was the only person in the car and it is understood that the vehicle overturned as it came off the pavement and landed in a ditch.

The emergency medical team rushed to the location but it was too late. After an initial assessment, Calik was declared at the scene of the accident by the paramedics' team. The official handle of Konyaspor, his previous clubs, and a collection of players took to Twitter to share their condolences.

The official Twitter handle of Konyaspor stated:

Konyaspor'umuza geldiği ilk günden bu yana taraftarımızın ve şehrimizin sevgisini kazanan futbolcumuz Ahmet Çalık'ı kaybetmenin derin üzüntüsünü yaşıyoruz. Başta futbolcumuz Ahmet Çalık'ın ailesi olmak üzere hepimizin başı sağ olsun. pic.twitter.com/pmzD3SZhV6
— İttifak Holding Konyaspor (@konyaspor) January 11, 2022

The official Twitter handle of Galatasaray SK stated:

Eski futbolcumuz Ahmet Çalık'ın vefat haberini derin bir üzüntüyle öğrenmiş bulunmaktayız. Merhuma Allah'tan rahmet, kederli ailesine, sevdiklerine ve Türk spor camiasına başsağlığı diliyoruz. pic.twitter.com/HscuK743Ft
— Galatasaray SK (@GalatasaraySK) January 11, 2022

Lukas Podolski, his teammate at Galatasaray said:

Haberi duyunca çok üzüldüm, şoktayım. Ölüm sana hiç yakışmadı kardeşim! Mekanın cennet olsun. 🙏😪 pic.twitter.com/MDF4isc8um
— Lukas-Podolski.com (@Podolski10) January 11, 2022

In a statement, the Konyaspor president Fahih Ozgokcen said, "It is with deep sadness that we learned that Ahmet Calik, football player of Ittifak Holding Konyaspor, who also played in our national team, passed away as a result of a traffic accident."

The Turkish FA released a heartfelt statement and it says, "It is with deep sadness that we learned that Ahmet Calik, football player of Ittifak Holding Konyaspor, who also played in our national team, passed away as a result of a traffic accident."

After earning a promotion from the youth teams, the centre-back made his international debut in 2015. He represented his country on eight occasions between 2015 and 2017 and was also named in Turkey's Euro 2016 squad, although he didn't make any appearances in that tournament.

Calik started his footballing career with the Ankara club Genclerbirligi before joining Galatasaray in 2017. During his three-year spell with Galatasaray, the defender made 56 appearances for the Yellow and Red.

In 2020, he joined Super Lig outfit, Konyaspor where he was playing until this tragic incident. On 9 January 2022, Ahmet played the full 90 minutes for the club in a 1-0 home defeat against Sivasspor. And sadly, that would prove to be his final appearance.

As reported, Konyaspor has requested the Turkish league authorities to postpone their Saturday's match against Istanbul Basaksehir.

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