EM Erdogan visit
Turkey ultras call on fans to do the wolf salute in the stadium – “Non plus ultra high-risk game”
Status: 09:53 am | Reading time: 2 minutes
Uefa bans Türkiye star Demiral – Erdogan attends quarter-finals in Berlin
According to a media report, Turkish defender Demiral will be banned by UEFA for two European Championship matches. This means that the 26-year-old will miss his team’s European Championship quarter-final against the Netherlands and a possible semi-final.
The European Championship quarter-final between Turkey and the Netherlands is politically charged after Merih Demiral’s wolf salute gesture. A Turkish fan group is making an explosive appeal. The Berlin police are preparing for an extreme situation.
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Turkish ultras have called on fans in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium to show the controversial wolf salute during their team’s European Championship quarter-final against the Netherlands. All supporters in the stands are invited to make the gesture during the national anthem, according to a call on the X platform.
Turkish national player Merih Demiral celebrated his second goal in the European Championship round of 16 against Austria with the so-called wolf salute, the origin of which is attributed to a right-wing extremist movement. He was therefore banned for two matches by UEFA.
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In order to display embedded content, your revocable consent to the transmission and processing of personal data is necessary, since the providers of the embedded content as third-party providers require this consent [In diesem Zusammenhang können auch Nutzungsprofile (u.a. auf Basis von Cookie-IDs) gebildet und angereichert werden, auch außerhalb des EWR]. By setting the switch to “on”, you agree to this (revocable at any time). This also includes your consent to the transfer of certain personal data to third countries, including the USA, in accordance with Art. 49 (1) (a) GDPR. You can find more information about this at . You can revoke your consent at any time using the switch and via privacy at the bottom of the page.
The scandal surrounding the gesture has also caused a great deal of political uproar in recent days. The Turkish Foreign Ministry described the UEFA investigation into Demiral as unacceptable. The Turkish ultra group stressed that the wolf salute was not racist, but rather “the national symbol of Turkishness”.
Police speak of “ultimate high-risk game”
The wolf salute usually expresses affiliation or sympathy with the Turkish right-wing extremist Ülkücü movement and its ideology. In Turkey, it is used by the ultra-nationalist MHP party, which is a partner of the government of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Uefa bans Türkiye star Demiral – Erdogan attends quarter-finals in Berlin
According to a media report, Turkish defender Demiral will be banned by UEFA for two European Championship matches. This means that the 26-year-old will miss his team’s European Championship quarter-final against the Netherlands and a possible semi-final.
In the wake of growing nationalism, representatives of the political center have recently also used the symbol to appeal to voters from nationalist circles. One example is the then Erdogan challenger and center-left politician Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in the 2023 presidential election campaign. In Germany, the Ülkücü movement is being monitored by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
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Amid the furore surrounding Demiral’s gesture, Erdogan has announced his attendance at Saturday’s quarter-final in Berlin. A spokesman for the Berlin police union described the match as a “non plus ultra high-risk game”.
