Gökhan Zan

Gökhan Zan — Biography

Gökhan Zan is known as a center-back who won titles with both Beşiktaş and Galatasaray and played in the Turkey squad that reached the semi-finals of Euro 2008. At 1.94 m, he stood out for his strength in the air. After leaving the pitch he first entered politics and then returned to coaching, and he currently manages Şanlıurfaspor.

His playing career fell into three stages. It began at Hatayspor in his native Antakya and continued at Çanakkale Dardanelspor, where he made around eighty league appearances. He joined Beşiktaş in 2003, found few chances in his first season and was loaned to Gaziantepspor, but on his return he became a fixture in defense. With the black-and-whites he won the Turkish Cup several times, the Super Cup and, in 2008–09, the league. When his contract was not renewed he moved to Galatasaray in 2009, where his partnership with Servet Çetin was nicknamed the "twin towers" by fans. In yellow and red he added three league titles and another cup.

In politics, he stood as an İYİ Parti candidate in the 2023 general election without being elected, left the party at the end of that year and ran as the Workers' Party of Turkey's candidate for Hatay metropolitan mayor in the 2024 local elections. He returned to football in December 2025 at İskenderunspor, left in March 2026 for family reasons and began working with Şanlıurfaspor in July 2026.