Suspended two matches by the Nyon-based body following his controversial celebration at the European Nations Championship, Merih Demiral and his gesture were honored in Türkiye with a statue. “Let’s see if Europe punishes me too,” said the man who erected it.
05.10.2024, 11:5105.10.2024, 12:17
The round of 16 of Euro 2024 Austria-Türkiye, won by Vincenzo Montella’s men, is still in everyone’s memory. Scorer from the kick-off, then author of a double on the hour mark, the Turk Merih Demiral celebrated his second success by joining his thumb to his middle and ring fingers.
The Al-Ahli player, who played for Juve or Atalanta, made this gesture the rallying sign of the Turkish “Grey Wolves” militia. This is the paramilitary movement of the Nationalist Action Party (MHP), a coalition partner of Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party, located on the far right on the Turkish political spectrum and close to fascist ideology.
Merih Demiral’s celebration on the Leipzig pitch at the Euro this summer.image: getty
This small group is closely monitored on the Old Continent. This is the case in Germany, host country of the last European Nations Championship. It was dissolved in France by the Council of Ministers, even though it had no official legal existence. The organization has been banned in Austria since 2019 and the gesture, equivalent to the Nazi salute, is prohibited there. Discreet, Turkish right-wing extremists are also active in Switzerland.
Merih Demiral’s celebration in reference to the “Grey Wolves” followed the opening of a highly publicized trial in Turkey, after the assassination in broad daylight of a former leader of the branch. 22 people were then judged in a tense atmosphere. Demiral was immediately suspended for two matches by UEFA, because politics has no place on football fields. His team having been eliminated by the Netherlands in the following round, he did not reappear at the Euro. He was sorely missed by his teammates against Ronald Koeman’s men.
This sanction pronounced by the body based in Nyon was very poorly received in Türkiye, by supporters and the authorities. So much so that Turkish fans present in Berlin massively reproduced the “Grey Wolves” sign on the sidelines of the quarter-final against the Netherlands. The mayor of the town of Bolu in the province of the same name, Tanju Özcan, promised to erect a statue in honor of the player and his celebration. “I promise you that I will build a statue of Merih Demiral reproducing the Bozkurt sign in Bolu,” he informed his constituents, recalls the German daily Bild.
It is now done. Turkish TV channel Koroglu TV and numerous photographs attest to the presence of a statue at an intersection in the Karaçayır district, to the south of the city. Tanju Özcan therefore kept his word. The building was inaugurated during an official ceremony in his presence. The mayor took this opportunity to speak and say what he thought of this controversial celebration.
“This gesture by my brother Merih Demiral is not the symbol of the members of the Nationalist Action Party (MHP). This is a huge lie. I repeat it. It is the symbol of Turkish identity. From the Turkish world. I do not accept that it is the symbol of a party.”
Tanju Özcan, Mayor of Bolu City
Tanju Özcan added during his speech that he strongly disapproves and despises “the sentence handed down against Merih Demiral. I curse the Turkish Football Federation because it failed to prevent this sanction.” The man provocatively concluded with the following words: “Let’s see if Europe punishes me too.”
Here is the statue that he has just inaugurated in his city.image: city of Bolu
Last August, certain Turkish media relayed a similar proposal in Izmir on the shores of the Aegean Sea. Submitted by the vice president of the Nationalist Action Party (MHP), Bahadir Altinkeser, the motion was approved, but the city’s mayor, Cemil Tugay, strongly opposed the project. “We will not erect a statue of a footballer reproducing the symbol of the “gray wolf” in Izmir,” he declared after a debate which sparked controversy in the city.
Merih Demiral spoke on social networks after the inauguration of his statue. “She embodies our fellow citizens whose hearts beat for the crescent and the moon. It is both an honor for me and the most concrete expression of my pride in being part of this beautiful country,” he wrote, sharing his gratitude. He had seen the wolf sign in the aisles of the Leipzig stadium after his second goal, and this is what pushed him to reproduce it instinctively.
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