Turkey Summons Germany's Ambassador in Dispute Over Goal Celebration, per Report

Patrick Andres | Jul 3, 2024

Mar 25, 2013; Mexico City, MEXICO; General view of FIFA soccer ball at United States training session at Estadio Azteca in advance of World Cup qualifying match against Mexico. / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

One day after its dramatic 2–1 victory over Austria in the European Championship's round of 16 in Leipzig, Turkey is in the headlines for different reasons.

Turkish defender Merih Demiral is under investigation by UEFA for allegedly making a salute widely associated with the Grey Wolves—a Turkish ultranationalist political group—after scoring the second of his two goals in the contest.

According to a Wednesday morning report from Tuvan Gumrukcu of Reuters, Turkey has summoned Jürgen Schulz—Germany's ambassador to the country—to Ankara after German leaders decried the gesture.

"The symbols of Turkish right-wing extremists have no place in our stadiums," German interior minister Nancy Faeser said on social media via Ezgi Erkoyun and Chiara Holzhaeuser of Reuters. "Using the European Football Championship as a platform for racism is completely unacceptable."

The Grey Wolves, who are closely associated with political violence in Turkey in the 1970s, have been outlawed in Azerbaijan and France.

The investigation of Demiral comes amid a European Championship even more politically charged than usual. Numerous punishments have been handed out to fans and players from Balkan nations for ethnically charged gestures, and France defender Jules Koundé spoke out against early election returns in the country favorable to the far-right National Rally.