Ediz Bahtiyaroğlu

Ediz Bahtiyaroğlu — Biography

Ediz Bahtiyaroğlu, known in Bosnian as Edis Bahtijarević, was a Turkish-Bosnian footballer born on 2 January 1986 who played as a 1.90-metre centre-back; through his Bosniak father İsmail Bahtiyaroğlu he also held Bosnian citizenship, though he was registered as a domestic player in Turkey on his Turkish passport. He began in Bursaspor's youth system, moved to Ankaraspor when the club was relegated, spent a season on loan at Keçiörengücü, and was brought into the Ankaraspor first team by coach Aykut Kocaman, making his Süper Lig entrance against Galatasaray on 4 August 2006.

He later played for MKE Ankaragücü and Bucaspor before finishing his career at Eskişehirspor. Capped 11 times for Turkey's under-21 side, for whom he scored once, he announced in 2010 after talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina coach Safet Sušić that he would represent that country, but he never actually took the field for them. Bahtiyaroğlu died in Eskişehir on 5 September 2012 at the age of 26 after suffering a heart attack at home, only hours after exchanging jokes on social media with his new teammate Necati Ateş.