Merih Demiral’s gesture has consequences. The Turkish defender had made a rallying sign for the far-right “Grey Wolves” group during the Euro 2024 round of 16 against Austria. Germany summoned the Turkish ambassador to Berlin on Thursday morning, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told AFP, in response to this gesture.
In the wake of this, Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his presence in Germany on Saturday for the quarter-final between Turkey and the Netherlands. Relations between Germany and Turkey have been experiencing new turbulence since the gesture of defender Merih Demiral. UEFA announced on Wednesday that it was opening an investigation into the “potentially inappropriate behaviour” of the Al-Ahli central defender.
A political conflict
On Wednesday, Turkey summoned the German ambassador to Ankara to protest the comments of the German Interior Minister condemning the gesture of defender Merih Demiral, who made the rallying sign of the “Grey Wolves”, a group of the Turkish far right, during the round of 16 on Tuesday against Austria (2-1). “The symbol of the Turkish right-wing extremists has no place in our stadiums,” Nancy Faeser had commented.
President Erdogan has not responded directly to the controversy, but several ministries and the spokesperson for his party (AKP, Islamo-conservative) have denounced the UEFA investigation and the reaction of the German minister. The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has notably vilified “the politically motivated” and “in itself xenophobic reactions of the German authorities towards Mr. Demiral.”
