Beşiktaş have 11 Turkish players born outside Turkey [divider]
The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) reduced the number of foreign players permitted to play in any domestic game from six to five at the start of the season.
The decision was heavily criticised and the TFF have now done a complete U-turn and will allow Süper Lig clubs to play 11 non-Turkish players at any one time.
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The foreign player ruling had a loophole exploited by a number of Turkish clubs. A player born and raised outside of Turkey or Turkish descent is given a domestic status in Turkey.
Beşiktaş have benefitted most from players of Turkish descent.
The Black Eagles have a total of 11 players on their books who play under a Turkish status but were born abroad.
Olcay Şahan, Gökhan Töre, Cenk Tosun, Günay Güvenç, Ömer Şişmanoğlu and Sezer Öztürk were all born in Germany.
Veli Kavlak was born in Austria, Ersan Adem Gülüm was born in Australia and Kerim Frei Koyunlu was born in Switzerland.
Şişmanoğlu and Öztürk are currently on loan at Eskişehirspor.
All except Veli Kavlak who plays for Austria at international level represent the Crescent-Stars.
Technically none of the mentioned players grew up or received their footballing education in Turkey.
There are approximately 10 million Turks in Europe, Germany has the largest concentration of the Turkish diaspora with an estimated population of 3-4 million.
Turks raised in Europe are eligible to represent their country of birth and Turkey at international level.
