Garo Hamamcıoğlu

Karabet " Garo " Hamamcıoğlu ( born April 24, 1945 in Istanbul ) is a former Turkish football player of Armenian origin and the current Chairman of the Sporting Club Taksim SK.

Career

He began his football career at Taksim SK in 1963. He played two seasons for the team until he was drafted into the Turkish army in 1965 for military service. During his military service, he played one season for Gölcük Denizgücü.

After completing his military service went Hamamcıoğlu 1967 Sariyer GK in the Second Turkish football league. He played 13 seasons there and retired in 1980 from the football life back. Hamamcıoğlu played in 483 games for Sariyer GK and scored 165 goals. He is currently the third most capped player for Sariyer GK

He was four times the top strikers in the Second Turkish Football League. Many first division tried him for their teams to undertake, but Garo remained until his retirement from football at Sariyer GK. Hamamcıoğlu played at the age of 35 years, even momentarily for Taksim SK in Istanbul's amateur league, after he returned from his retirement from football.

Club chairman

After he retired again from the football, Hamamcıoğlu returned as a leader once again back to Taksim SK. He is chairman of the club.

Activities

Garo Hamamcıoğlu was also co- captain of the Turkish-Armenian squad at the PanArmenischen games.

He is a peace activist and is committed to the improvement of relations between the Turkish and Armenian people.

But he was against the bill by the French Senate, which provided the denial of the Armenian genocide a criminal offense.