Turkey has summoned the German ambassador following harsh criticism of Turkish national footballer Merih Demiral's goal celebration at the European Championships.
Demiral is under investigation by the ruling body UEFA over a controversial gesture after scoring in the Euro 2024 last-16 match against Austria.
He made the wolf-salute with his fingers, a gesture associated with Turkish far-right movement Grey Wolves, which is politically represented there via the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
The gesture was condemned by German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, politicians and rights groups, who called for a UEFA investigation, while Turkey meanwhile hit out at the criticism.
UEFA said on Wednesday it was looking into potential "inappropriate behaviour" from Demiral and that "further information regarding this matter will be made available in due course."
Potential sanctions could affect his participation in Saturday's quarter-final against the Netherlands.
Demiral attributed the gesture to his "Turkish identity" after the match and that it contained no secret message.
"I also saw people in the stadium making the gesture. We are all Turks, I am very proud to be a Turk and that is what the gesture is all about. I just wanted to demonstrate how happy and proud I am," he said.
Demiral also received backing from his home country. The leader of the ultra-nationalist MHP, Devlet Bahceli, described UEFA's initiation of proceedings against the player as a "provocation". The move was "extremely biased and wrong". UEFA was thus jumping on "the bandwagon of evil" of those "who are obviously hostile to the Turks and Turkey".
The Turkish Foreign Ministry described the investigation as unacceptable. Not every person displaying the sign of the Grey Wolves could be labelled as right-wing extremist, it said. Moreover, the wolf salute is not banned in Germany and the reactions of the German authorities were "xenophobic."
Faeser expressed outrage on the X platform, saying that "symbols of Turkish right-wing extremists have no place in our stadiums."
"Using the European Football Championship as a platform for racism is completely unacceptable," she added.
"Our security authorities are keeping a close eye on Turkish right-wing extremists in Germany. The 'Grey Wolves' are under observation by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution," the German minister explained.
Users on social media criticized the fact that Demiral gave the wolf salute on the anniversary of the Sivas massacre. Thirty years ago, an Islamist mob incited by religious extremists set fire to a hotel in the centre of Sivas, where Alevi writers, singers and intellectuals were staying. The flames killed 37 people, most of the victims were Alevis - a religious minority in Turkey.
The prominent exiled journalist Can Dündar wrote on X that Demiral's actions had ruined the joy of the 2:1 victory against Austria.
