German World Cup winner, soccer player Mesat Ozil, entered Turkish politics by becoming a senior decision maker for the country’s ruling party.
Ozil joined the Judicial and Development Party (AKP) Central Decision and Executive Committee in Ankara’s Parliament on Sunday.
German and Turkish footballers have been in close relationships with Erdogan for several years. In 2019, the president was the best man at Ozil’s wedding with former Miss Turcoamingals.
During his illustrious football career, he won the Spanish La Liga title and four English FA Cup trophies, among other clubs, with Real Madrid, Arsenal and Fenerbafs.
He played for the German national team 92 times, won the World Cup in 2014, and recorded five German National Team Player of the Year.
New MEE Newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis
Israel and Palestine are unpacked by Türkiye and lined up with other MEE newsletters
However, his relationship with the national team deteriorated after the 2018 World Cup, when Ozil retired from international football, claiming that the German media and the Football Association’s DFB had racially discriminated against him. I did.
“When we win, I’m German and when we lose, I’m immigrant,” he said at the time.
This episode comes weeks after Ozil and another international international Ilkay Gandogan of Manchester City, who met with Erdogan, were criticised in Germany.
“My job was to be a soccer player, not a politician, our meeting wasn’t a policy support,” Ozil said at the time. “I think I’ve forgotten the treatment I received from DFB and many others because I don’t want to wear a German national team shirt, so I think I’ve forgotten what I’ve achieved since my international debut in 2009.”
Since then, Ozil has done a lot of intervention on political and human rights issues.
He publicly condemned China’s crackdown on Uyghur Muslims in December 2019, angering Chinese authorities. Ozil’s then club Arsenal distanced himself from the blame.
The following year he commented on the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, and the territory was “legally and internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but is now illegally occupied. “He said.
He has also frequently spoke out about supporting Palestinian rights and opposing Israeli abuse.
Ozil is not the first soccer player to participate in the AKP ranks. Former Aston Villa defender Alpeio Zaran has been a member of the Turkish Parliament since 2018.
