Arda Okan Kurtulan Chooses Türkiye

Interest has grown around Arda Okan Kurtulan's international team choice ahead of the national team's matches against France and Belgium. The 23-year-old right winger chose to wear the star-and-crescent shirt at a time when Albania had also made a strong effort to include him in their squad.

According to information obtained, the Turkish Football Federation was going to call the player during the week to extend an invitation. However, a paperwork issue that arose during the federation's processes prevented the invitation from taking place. It was understood that, because the young player had previously played for the youth national teams of other countries, his declaration of preference and some official documents needed to be completed. Since these procedures came up at the last minute, the documents could not be finalized in time, and Kurtulan was not included in the squads for the France and Belgium matches.

Had the paperwork been completed on time, the player could have taken part in those matches. It was stated that if the technical staff chose him after the necessary procedures were finished, he could wear the A National Team shirt in the team's upcoming matches.

Arda Okan Kurtulan transferred from Adana Demirspor to Göztepe in the summer of 2025 without a transfer fee and signed a 4+1 year contract with the Izmir club. Able to take on both defensive and attacking duties on the right flank, he quickly became one of the team's key players. In the 2025-26 season, he recorded 4 goals and 2 assists in 31 Süper Lig matches. In the 2026-27 season, he has scored 1 goal in 10 matches so far. In total, he has reached 5 goals and 2 assists in 41 Süper Lig matches for Göztepe. His contract runs until June 2029.