President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will attend Turkey’s quarterfinal match against the Netherlands at the European soccer championship in Germany on Saturday, amid a ballooning row over a Turkish player’s celebratory actions on the pitch.
Erdogan will skip an informal gathering of leaders of Turkic states, scheduled for the same day in Azerbaijan, in order to view the game. He will then travel on to Washington for the July 9–11 NATO summit.
The decision came amid Germany’s Foreign Ministry today summoning Turkey’s ambassador to air its grievances after Ankara accused Berlin of “xenophobia.”
The spat erupted when Turkish defender Merih Demiral made a “Gray Wolf” hand salute after scoring his second goal against Austria on Tuesday and clinching Turkey a place in the quarterfinals. The salute — made by raising the index finger and pinky to form the ears of a wolf while bringing the tips of the other other two fingers and thumb together to form a snout — is associated with Turkey’s far-Right nationalist youth movement, which has its roots in Turkish fascism and is organically linked to the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Erdogan’s coalition partner.
Citing inappropriate behavior by Demiral, UEFA, the Union of European Football Asssociations, European soccer’s governing body, launched an investigation into the 26-year-old’s actions.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, echoing her government’s sentiments, said on X, “The symbols of Turkish right-wing extremists have no place in our stadium.”
“Using the European football championships as a platform for racism is completely unacceptable," she added.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry then replied in a statement, “The reactions shown to Mr Demiral by German authorities are itself xenophobia,” and summoned Germany’s envoy on Wednesday to register its protest.
MHP leader Devlet Bahceli — currently under pressure over the 2022 murder of an MHP youth leader that his own lieutenants allegedly ordered — waded into the controversy, tweeting, “The wolves’ salute performed by our son Merih following his goal is a message from the Turkish nation to the world.” UEFA’s decision to launch an investigation, Bahceli added, was a “malign act.”
Meanwhile, Demiral showed no remorse and even acknowledged that the salute was premeditated.
“I had a goal celebration in mind,” he said. “I am very proud because I am a Turk, therefore after the goal, I felt it deeply and I wanted to do it, and I am very happy about doing it.”
If found guilty of inappropriate behavior, Demiral could be fined or face a suspension ahead of Saturday’s match.
The wolf salute is prohibited in Austria and France, both home to large ethnic Turkish communities whose nationalist fringes have a history of engaging in violence against Kurds.
Erdogan has played on divisions between Kurds and nationalists to rally support for his Islamist Justice and Development Party ahead of national elections in Turkey. He has also incited Turks against their host governments and labeled their leaders “Nazis.”
The Gray Wolves are formally banned in France, and there has been a long-running debate in Germany on criminalizing the Gray Wolf salute.
Michael Roth, a prominent Social Democrat and head of the German parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, today accused Erdogan of seeking to sow discord in Germany.
“Erdogan wants to divide the Turkish community in [Germany]. He makes everything a question of national honor, fueling [Turkish] nationalism because he rejects the integration of people with [Turkish roots] in [Germany]," Roth said on X.
