The German Foreign Office has summoned the Turkish ambassador in Berlin, as the fallout continued on Thursday from the use of a controversial gesture with far-right connotations by a Turkish footballer.
“We raised the incident today with the Turkish ambassador in Berlin,” a spokeswoman said in response to a question from dpa. The move followed the summoning of the German ambassador to Turkey on Wednesday.
Turkey’s Merih Demiral made the sign – known as the wolf salute – after scoring his second goal in his country’s Euro 2024 victory over Austria on Tuesday.
The gesture is associated with the Turkish far-right Grey Wolves movement, which is politically aligned with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
The sign was condemned by German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, as well as other politicians and rights groups, while football ruling body UEFA said on Wednesday it was looking into potential “inappropriate behaviour” by Demiral.
Potential sanctions could affect his participation in Saturday’s quarter-final against the Netherlands.
Demiral attributed the gesture to his “Turkish identity” after the match and said that it contained no secret message.
“I also saw people in the stadium making the gesture. We are all Turks, I am very proud to be a Turk and that is what the gesture is all about. I just wanted to demonstrate how happy and proud I am,” he said.
In Turkey, the leader of the ultra-nationalist MHP, Devlet Bahceli, described UEFA’s initiation of proceedings against the player as a “provocation.”
The Turkish Foreign Ministry has described the investigation as unacceptable. Not every person displaying the sign of the Grey Wolves – which is not banned in Germany – could be labelled as right-wing extremist, it said, adding that the reactions of the German authorities were “xenophobic.”
Courtesy: DPA
