Turkey’s players after their Euro quarter-final elimination against the Netherlands, at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, July 6, 2024. THILO SCHMUELGEN / REUTERS

The perfect evening was shaping up for the Turkish public and their supporters, who had taken over the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, until those eight minutes of misfortune, between the 70th and 78th minutes of the quarter-final against the Netherlands (1-2), Saturday July 6. While leading by a goal, Turkey cracked twice, on a header from Stefan de Vrij (70th) then on an own goal from Mert Müldür (76th), before losing their scorer of the evening, Samet Akaydin (78th), on a stretcher. Turkey’s dreams of a semi-final were suddenly dashed.

The Dutch fans could celebrate the qualification in the stands with an intoxicating wave. The concert of horns, which accompanied each victory of Turkey in all German cities, since the beginning of the competition, would not take place. The party was beautiful, however, until then, for the supporters of the Bizim Çocuklar (“the Kids”) and they thought they could come out victorious from a duel between teams who had not played in a quarter-final at the Euro since the 2008 edition.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was then Prime Minister of Turkey, attended the quarter-final won by his country against Croatia (1-1, 3-1 on penalties) in Vienna. The now president was there again on Saturday and hoped to bring luck to the national team players. His visit to Berlin was not initially planned, but the leader had changed his schedule to make room for this match, after the emergence of a diplomatic crisis in recent days between his country and Germany.

Read also | Netherlands – Turkey: the summary of the stunning qualification of the Oranje for the semi-finals of the Euro

Add to your selections READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

The spark was the double scored by Merih Demiral in the round of 16 against Austria (2-1) on Tuesday, and more precisely the celebration of the Turkish defender. The latter had mimed with his fingers the distinctive sign of the “Grey Wolves”, an ultranationalist organization dissolved in France in 2020 and close to the MHP, a far-right party, member of the ruling coalition led by President Erdogan’s AKP.

Turkish supporters’ march interrupted

The gesture, which is not banned in Germany, was immediately investigated by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), which organises the Euro, before being criticised by Nancy Faeser, German Interior Minister, on her X account: “The symbol of the Turkish far right has no place in our stadiums. Using the Euro football championship as a platform for racism is totally unacceptable.” Instant counterattack from the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which denounced, for its part, “politically motivated reactions” et “in itself, xenophobic, of the German authorities towards Mr. Demiral”.

You have 54.26% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.

2024-07-06 23:37:30
#Netherlands #eliminates #Turkey #tensions #Berlin #Ankara