The Arsenal player on Sunday 22/07/2018 released a lengthy statement about his decision to quit international football citing that the German FA has made several racist attack on him which should never be allowed in football. The most recent saga came as a result of the picture he took with Turkish President Erdogan which steered a lot of criticisms from top German officials.
HERE IS THE FULL STATEMENT
The past couple of weeks have given me time to reflect, and time to think
over the events of the last few months. Consequently, I want to share
my thoughts and feelings about what has happened.
Like many people, my ancestry traces back to more than one country.
Whilst I grew up in Germany, my family background has its roots firmly
based in Turkey. I have two hearts, one German and one Turkish. During
my childhood, my mother taught me to always be respectful and to never
forget where I came from, and these are still values that I think about
to this day.
In May, I met President Erdogan in London, during a
charitable and educational event. We first met in 2010 after he and
Angela Merkel watched the Germany vs. Turkey match together in Berlin.
Since then, our paths have crossed a lot of times around the globe. I'm
aware that the picture of us caused a huge response in the German media,
and whilst some people may accuse me of lying or being deceitful, the
picture we took had no political intentions.
As I said, my mother
has never let me lose sight of my ancestry, heritage and family
traditions. For me, having a picture with President Erdogan wasn't about
politics or elections, it was about me respecting the highest office of
my family’s country. My job is a football player and not a politician,
and our meeting was not an endorsement of any policies. In fact, we
spoke about the same topic that we do every time we have met - football -
as he too was a player in his youth.
Although the German media
have portrayed something different, the truth is that not meeting with
the President would have been disrespecting the roots of my ancestors,
who I know would be proud of where I am today. For me, it didn't matter
who was President, it mattered that it was the President. Having respect
for political office is a view that I'm sure both the Queen and Prime
Minister Theresa May share when they too hosted Erdogan in London.
Whether it had been the Turkish or the German President, my actions
would’ve been no different.
I get that this may be hard to
understand, as in most cultures the political leader cannot be thought
of as being separate from the person. But in this case, it is different.
Whatever the outcome would've been in this previous election, or the
election before that, I would have still taken the picture.
I know that I am a footballer who has played in arguably the three
toughest leagues in the world. I've been fortunate to receive great
support from my teammates and coaching staff whilst playing in the
Bundesliga, La Liga and the Premier League. And in addition, throughout
my career, I've learnt to deal with the media.
A lot of people
talk about my performances - many applaud and many criticise. If a
newspaper or pundit finds fault in a game I play in, then I can accept
this - I'm not a perfect footballer and this often motivates me to work
and train harder. But what I can’t accept, are German media outlets
repeatedly blaming my dual-heritage and a simple picture for a bad World
Cup on behalf of an entire squad.
Certain German newspapers are
using my background and photo with President Erdogan as right-wing
propaganda to further their political cause. Why else did they use
pictures and headlines with my name as a direct explanation for defeat
in Russia?
They didn‘t criticise my performances. They didn‘t
criticise the team‘s performances, they just criticised my Turkish
ancestry and respect for my upbringing. This crosses a personal line
that should never be crossed, as newspapers try to turn the nation of
Germany against me.
What I also find disappointing are the double
standards that the media has. Lothar Matthaus (an honorary German
national team captain) met with another world leader a few days back,
and received almost no media criticism. Despite his role with the DFB
(German national team), they have not asked him to publicly explain his
actions and he continues to represent the players of Germany without any
reprimand. If the media felt that I should have been left of the World
Cup squad, then surely he should be stripped of his honorary captaincy?
Does my Turkish heritage make me a more worthy target?
I've
always thought that a 'partnership' infers support, both in the good
times and also during tougher situations. Recently, I planned to visit
my former school Berger-Feld in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, along with two
of my charitable partners. I funded a project for one year where
immigrant children, children from poor families and any other children
can play football together and learn social rules for life.
However,
days before we were scheduled to go, I was abandoned by my so-called
'partners', who no longer wanted to work with me at this time. To add to
this, the school told my management that they no longer wanted me to be
there at this time, as they 'feared the media" due to my picture with
President Erdogan, especially with the “right-wing party in
Gelsenkirchen on the rise". In all honesty, this really hurt. Despite
being a student of theirs back when l was younger. I was made to feel
unwanted and unworthy of their time.
In addition to this I was
renounced by another partner. As they are also a sponsor of the DFB, l
was asked to take part in promotional videos for the World Cup. Yet
after my picture with President Erdogan they took me out of the
campaigns and cancelled all promotional activities that were scheduled.
For them it was no longer good to be seen with me and called the
situation ‘crisis management'.
This is all ironic because a
German Ministry declared their products have illegal and unauthorized
software devices in them, which puts customers at risk. Hundreds of
thousands of their products are getting recalled. Whilst I was being
criticised and asked to justify my actions by the DFB, there was no such
official and public explanation demanded of the DFB sponsor. Why? Am i
right in thinking this is worse than a picture with the President of my
family‘s country? What does the OPE have to say about all this?
As
I said before, ‘partners' should stick with you in all situations.
Adidas, Beats and Big Shoe have been extremely loyal and amazing to work
with in this time. They rise above the nonsense created by the German
press and media, and we carry out our projects in a professional manner
that I really enjoy being part of.
During the World Cup, I worked
with Big Shoe and helped get 23 young children life-changing surgeries
in Russia, which I have also done previously in Brazil and Africa. This
for me is the most important thing that I do as a football player, yet
the newspapers find no space to raise awareness about this sort of thing.
For
them, me being booed or taking a picture with a President is more
significant then helping children get surgeries worldwide. They too have a
platform to raise awareness and funds, but choose not to do so.
Arguably the issue that has frustrated me the most over the past
couple of months has been the mistreatment from the DFB, and in
particular the OPE President Reinhard Grindel. After my picture with
President Erdogan l was asked by Joachim Low to cut short my holiday and
go to Berlin and give a joint statement to end all the talk and set the
record straight.
Whilst I attempted to explain to Grindel my
heritage, ancestry and therefore reasoning behind the photo, he was far
more interested in speaking about his own political views and belittling
my opinion.
Whilst his actions were patronising, we came to
agree that the best thing to do was to concentrate on football and the
upcoming World Cup. This is why l did not attend the OPE media day
during the World Cup preparations. I knew journalists discussing
politics and not football would just attack me, even though the whole
issue was deemed to be over by Oliver Bierhoff in a TV interview he did
before the Saudi Arabia game in Leverkusen.
During this time, I
also met with the President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Unlike
Grindel, President Steinmeier was professional and actually was
interested in what I had to say about my family, my heritage and my
decisions. I remember that the meeting was only between myself, Ilkay
and President Steinmeier, with Grindel being upset that he wasn't
allowed inside to boost his own political agenda.
I agreed with
President Steinmeier that we would release a joint statement about the
matter, in another attempt to move toward and focus on football. But
Grindel was upset that it wasn't his team releasing the first statement,
annoyed that Steinmeier‘s press office had to take lead on this matter.
Since
the end of the World Cup, Grindel has come under much pressure
regarding his decisions before the tournament started, and rightly so.
Recently, he has publicly said I should once again explain my actions
and puts me at fault for the poor team results in Russia, despite
telling me it was over in Berlin. I am speaking now not for Grindel, but
because I want to. I will no longer stand for being a scapegoat for his
incompetence and inability to do his job properly. I know that he
wanted me out the team after the picture, and publicised his view on
Twitter without any thinking or consultation, but Joachim Low and Oliver
Bierhoff stood up for me and backed me.
In the eyes of Grindel
and his supporters, I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when
we lose. This is because despite paying taxes in Germany, donating
facilities to German schools and winning the World Cup with Germany in
2014, I am still not accepted into society. I am treated as being
'different'. I received the 'Bambi Award' in 2010 as an example of
successful integration to German society, I received a 'Silver Laurel
Leaf' in 2014 from the Federal Republic of Germany, and I was a ’German
Football Ambassador’ in 2015. But clearly, I am not German.. .?
Are
there criteria for being fully German that I do not fit? My friend Lukas
Podolski and Miroslav Klose are never referred to as German-Polish, so
why am I German-Turkish? Is it because it is Turkey? Is it because I'm a
Muslim? I think here lays an important issue. By being referred to as
German-Turkish, it is already distinguishing people who have family from
more than one country. I was born and educated in Germany, so why don't
people accept that I am German?
Grindel's opinions can be found
elsewhere too. I was called by Bernd Holzhauer (a German politician) a
“goat-f***er” because of my picture with President Erdogan and my
Turkish background. Furthermore, Werner Steer (Chief of German Theatre)
told me to "piss off to Anatolia", a place in Turkey where many
immigrants are based.
As I have said before, criticising and
abusing me because of family ancestry is a disgraceful line to cross,
and using discrimination as a tool for political propaganda is something
that should immediately result In the resignation of those
disrespectful individuals. These people have used my picture with
President Erdogan as an opportunity to express their previously hidden
racist tendencies, and this is dangerous for society.
They are no
better than the German fan who told me after the game against Sweden
"Ozil, verpiss Dich Du scheiss TiirkensauJ’iirkenschwein hau ab' or in
English "Ozil, f**k off you Turkish s**t, p*** off you Turkish pig!‘
I
don't want to even discuss the hate mail, threatening phone calls and
comments on social media that my family and I have received. They all
represent a Germany of the past, a Germany not open to new cultures, and
a Germany that I am not proud of. I am confident that many proud Germans
who embrace an open society would agree with me.
To
you, Reinhard Grindel, I am disappointed but not surprised by your
actions. In 2004 whilst you were a German member of Parliament, you
claimed that “multiculturalism is in reality a myth [and] a lifelong
lie” whilst you voted against legislation for dual-nationalities and
punishments for bribery, as well as saying that Islamic culture has
become too ingrained in many German cities. This is unforgivable and
unforgettable.
The treatment l have received from the OPE and
many others makes me no longer want to wear the German national team
shirt. I feel unwanted and think that what I have achieved since my
international debut in 2009 has been forgotten. People with racially
discriminative backgrounds should not be allowed to work in the largest
football federation in the world that has many players from
dual-heritage families. Attitudes like theirs simply do not reflect the
players they supposedly represent.
It is with a heavy heart and after much consideration that because of
recent events. I will no longer be playing for Germany at international
level whilst I have this feeling of racism and disrespect. I used to
wear the German shirt with such pride and excitement, but now I don‘t.
This decision has been extremely difficult to make because I have always
given everything for my teammates, the coaching staff and the good
people of Germany. But when high-ranking DFB officials treat me as they
did, disrespect my Turkish roots and selfishly turn me into political
propaganda, then enough is enough.
That is not why I play football, and I
will not sit back and do nothing about it.
Racism should never, ever be accepted.
