Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan meets Arsenal’s soccer participant Mesut Ozil in London, Britain Could 13, 2018. — Reuters
ISTANBUL: Former Germany, Actual Madrid and Arsenal star Mesut Ozil, who retired in 2023, was elected on Sunday to the ruling Justice and Improvement Occasion (AKP) celebration of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the celebration introduced.
The German-born 2014 World Cup winner turned a member of the AKP’s central council at a congress in Ankara the place Erdogan was re-elected for the ninth time as head of the conservative celebration which has dominated Turkey since 2002.
Ozil, who ended his membership profession in Istanbul, is a longtime Erdogan supporter, having chosen him as his greatest man in 2019 for his wedding ceremony to a former Miss Turkey, Amine Gulse.
A photograph of Ozil and Erdogan with former Germany teammate Ilkay Guendogan, additionally of Turkish origin, precipitated controversy, with Berlin accusing the Turkish head of state of repressive drift, whereas Ozil was criticised by the German far proper.
Ozil, beforehand held up as an emblem of a multicultural Germany, turned his again on the German nationwide workforce, accusing the German Soccer Affiliation of racism.