"Turkey Unites Over Basketball, If Not a Constitution
The atmosphere in Istanbul was already turbo-charged after weeks of argument over the country's political future, and that was all before Turkey's beloved "12 Giant Men" played a massive final game against Team USA Sunday night in the World Championship of international basketball. In the underdog role versus the Amercan hoops juggernaut, the Turkish team managed to bring their country together even as a vote to overhaul the county's old constitution — drafted in an era dominated by the military — threatened to tear them apart. In the end, the giant men lost, the revised referendum won. But along the way Turkey shifted gears, at least for a moment, from political polemics to tearful national pride."
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