High on the "Kürtdere" plateau in Turkey’s north-eastern Trabzon province, a once-forgotten rock has become an unlikely monument. No plaque, no statue, no bronze. Just stone – and Mohamed Salah.
One visit from the Egypt captain was all it took.
Salah shared a set of photos from his trip to the plateau, perched calmly on one of the rocks scattered across the landscape. No grand gesture, no marketing push. Just a superstar taking in the view.
That was enough.
The images raced across social media, and the quiet plateau suddenly found itself on the football map. Fans and tourists began arriving, hunting for the exact rock Salah had chosen, eager to sit where he sat and mimic his pose for their own photos.
Locals moved quickly to give the boulder a name. They called it "Salahtaşı" – "Salah’s rock" in Turkish. In a matter of days, the stone shifted from anonymous scenery to a landmark welded to the Egyptian forward’s global pull.
The reaction on the ground has carried a mix of humour and pride. Turkish media, cited by Al Jazeera, picked up some of the lighter moments. One journalist jokingly asked the owner of a nearby facility whether the whole area might soon be rebranded as "Salah’s plateau". She laughed off the idea, reminding him that these were still her own "Subaşı" facilities.
A shop owner close to the rock took a more heartfelt approach. He recorded a spontaneous message to Salah, inviting him back for a visit and saying he hoped the star would drop in to share a simple cup of tea.
As the stream of visitors grew, the impromptu pilgrimage needed structure. Turkish platforms started posting clips showing the route up to the heights Salah had visited, guiding fans along the same path. Reports say a directional sign has now been installed, pointing the way for anyone wanting their moment at "Salah’s rock".
This is not happening in a vacuum. The craze has erupted in the wake of Salah’s stunning performance in a Trabzonspor shirt, when he ripped through Galatasaray with a hat-trick and an assist in a 4-0 win. That display turned him into the dominant story in Turkish football coverage, the kind of night that cements a bond between a player and a city.
Now that bond has a physical symbol: a rock on a windswept plateau, where a global icon sat for a photo – and unknowingly created Turkey’s newest football landmark.
