Türkoğlu: Our Goal Is to Take Part in the European Championship

Turkey's senior women's national team will play Montenegro, Israel and Poland in the second round of the 2027 FIBA European Championship qualifiers. A media day was held at the Turkcell Basketball Development Center before the matches. TBF President Hidayet Türkoğlu, head coach Frederic Dusart, general manager Arzu Özyiğit and national team players attended the event.

Türkoğlu said the federation aims to take part in tournaments where both the women's and men's teams can represent the country in the best possible way. He said the women have recently achieved proud results, but have not received the desired outcomes in tournaments. Türkoğlu, who described the upcoming three-match process as an opportunity for the team to improve, stressed that their goal is to take part in the European Championship. He added that they have built the squad with a new team and included Arzu Özyiğit in the group, with the expectation that she will act as a big sister to the players.

Dusart said he was honored to start his role as head coach. Describing Montenegro as a difficult team, Dusart said they will focus on the key points without getting lost in the details. He said that while serving as an assistant coach in Belgium, he faced Turkey, got to know the team and found a good fit with them. Dusart, who previously worked as head coach at Galatasaray, also said that before joining the national team, he had been in contact with Sevgi, Derin and Gökçen.

Team captain Olcay Çakır said they want all three matches to end in victories. She said they are working with a new coach and a new approach, have held two training sessions, and want to take the court with the best possible preparation. The national team will host Montenegro in the first match of the round on Wednesday, November 11, at 19:00. Following the media day, the first 15 minutes of training were open to the press.