On Tuesday (2/7), the Turkish national football team beat Austria 2-1 in the 1/8 finals of Euro 2024. Both goals for Turkey were scored by defender Merih Demiral. In celebrating the second goal, he showed the “wolf salute” gesture: he raised his little finger and index finger and crossed the others, which resembles the head of a wolf.
It is the symbol of the Turkish ultra-nationalist paramilitary group Bozkurtlar (Bozkurt or Grey Wolves). It adheres to an ideology of racial superiority, anti-Semitism, Armenophobia and Islamism.
“Of course I am very happy that I scored two goals. The way I celebrated it is connected to my Turkish identity. I saw people in the stadium who also made this gesture,” Demiral justified himself. “I hope I will have more opportunities to make this gesture. There is no hidden message. I just wanted to show how happy I am.”
In Austria, the “wolf salute” is officially banned. Earlier, former German national team player Mesut Ozil got a tattoo with the Bozkurt emblem (https://t.me/BILD_Russian/10595). This caused a storm of criticism in Germany. Now UEFA may also suspend Demiral from matches. This was recently done to Albanian national team striker Mirlind Daka, who shouted after the match with Croatia: “Kill the Serbs, kill the Macedonians.”
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