President Erdogan: Germany’s “Racist” Attitude Towards Mesut Ozil Is Unacceptable

By The Editor
on 25th July 2018

President Erdogan publicly defends Mesut Ozil after racism row…

President Erdogan has publicly condemned Germany’s football officials for their treatment of Mesut Ozil which led to the Arsenal man retiring from international duty due to racism, ESPN reports.

Ozil took a snap with Erdogan, Turkey’s highly controversial leader, before the start of the World Cup and it caused mass outrage in Germany.

There were calls for Ozil – and Ilkay Gundogan who also met Erdogan – to be dropped ahead of the tournament but that didn’t materialise.

Ozil avoided the press and attempted to focus on the football but when Germany crashed out of the World Cup at the group stages, the knives were already sharpened for the 29-year-old.

Instead of scrutinising his preformances on the pitch, Ozil’s commitment to his country given his Turkish background and whether or not he sings the national anthem vigorously enough became the topic of conversation.

Ozil saw exactly what this was and called out the entire German Football Federation and especially the chief of the DFB Reinhard Grindel for using him to further their ‘right-wing political agenda’.

“Such racist treatment towards a young man who has given his all to the German national team for his religious beliefs is unacceptable,” Erdogan told reporters.

“Furthermore, how do you explain being unable to tolerate Mesut, Ilkay [Gundogan] and Cenk Tosun taking a photograph in London out of respect of their Turkish roots?

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“There are some that could not stomach this, but there are established, responsible politicians who are standing with Mesut.”

For many, they cannot stomach those that embrace their dual-heritage and Ozil’s continuous reference to Turkey probably brewed some resentment towards him in Germany over the years.

In Donald Trump and Brexit’s 2018, however, openly expressing your racism has become rather mainstream.

Nevertheless, this could be good news for Arsenal given that we have Ozil for a clear season.