Mesut Ozil’s decision to quit
playing for Germany unleashed a racism storm in Berlin on Monday, but earned
the applause of Ankara with a Turkish minister hailing “a goal against the
virus of fascism”.
After months of silence over a
controversial photograph with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in May,
which sparked questions about his loyalty to Germany, Ozil erupted on Sunday.
The Arsenal midfielder posted a
stinging four-page statement taking aim at German Football Association (DFB)
bosses, sponsors and the media. Ozil, a key member of the squad which won the
2014 World Cup, blamed the DFB management, in particular its president Reinhard
Grindel, for failing to side with him against his critics.
“In the eyes of Grindel and his
supporters, I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose,” Ozil
wrote. The 29-year-old said he was true to both his Turkish and German origins
and insisted he did not intend to make a political statement by appearing with
Erdogan just before the World Cup finals.
“I have two hearts, one German and
one Turkish,” said Ozil, who has been repeatedly singled out for criticism
after Germany’s woeful performance at the World Cup saw them crash out after
the group stages. Ozil’s explosive statement, in three separate postings on
Twitter and Instagram, was hailed by the Turkish government of Erdogan, who has
championed a campaign against what Ankara sees as growing Islamophobia in
Europe.
“I congratulate Mesut Ozil who by leaving the national team has scored
the most beautiful goal against the virus of fascism,” Justice Minister
Abdulhamit Gul wrote on Twitter. But it was met with a mix of dismay and
outrage in Germany. Justice Minister Katarina Barley wrote on Twitter that it
was an “alarm sign if a great, German footballer like Mesut Ozil no longer
feels wanted in his country or represented by the DFB.” – ‘Whiny resignation’ –
Cem Ozdemir of the Greens party also voiced dismay that “young German-Turks now
get the impression that they have no place in the German national team”.
At the
same time, Ozdemir, who himself has Turkish roots, voiced disappointment that
Ozil “did not live up to his function of setting examples” by failing to
distance himself from Erdogan. “Posing with the sole ruler Erdogan is
disrespectful to those who are being persecuted in Turkey or put arbitrarily in
prison,” he said. Germany’s country’s best-selling newspaper Bild led the
charge of criticism against Ozil, calling his statement a “whiny resignation”
and slamming him for heaping “criticism on everyone but himself”.
Bild, which
has for weeks has been calling for Ozil to be dropped from the starting team ,
also hit back against the midfielder’s claims that his Turkish origin and
Erdogan photo have been used by some media to pander to the far-right. “Ozil’s
world view here is dangerously close to Erdogan and his despots,” charged the
tabloid-style daily. The photo, which was published on the presidential website
and the Twitter feed of the ruling party, came just before the June 24 polls
Erdogan won to claim sweeping new powers. Ozil said that despite the timing of
the picture
“it wasn’t about politics or elections, it was about me respecting
the highest office of my family’s country”. – ‘Watershed’ – Born and raised in
Gelsenkirchen, Ozil, who has scored 23 goals and made 40 assists in 92
appearances for Germany, is third-generation German-Turk and counts among more
than three million people of Turkish origin in Germany. In his statement, Ozil
underlined how he felt “hurt” by his school which he said did not want him to appear
in an event there because of the raging criticism against him over the Erdogan
affair.
The DFB has so far stayed mum, and in a first reaction from his former
teammates, defender Jerome Boateng wrote on Twitter only using the Turkish word
for “brother”: “It was a pleasure, Abi.” Former DFB chief Theo Zwanziger warned
that the debacle was a “serious blow to the integration efforts in our country
that goes beyond football”. For Tagesspiegel, the entire affair was a
“watershed for sports, politics and society.” While the newspaper noted that
Ozil’s thinking that a photograph could be non-political was “naive”, it said
that the debacle had far-reaching consequences.
“Ultimately, Ozil did not fall
because of Grindel but because of a heated, populist mood in Germany,” it said.
“The danger exists because many who also have family roots in other countries
or culture, can understand Ozil’s mood. And this needs to be countered quickly
and decisively. “Because more is at stake than just the future of the German national
football team.”
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