Turkey president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has voiced his support for Arsenal star, Mesut Ozil who retired from the National team citing racism and disrespect from within the German FA and among German fans.
Erdoğan said such victimisation must stop. He also stated that he is fully behind Ozil and that such acts should be eliminated from the game.
Ozil alongside Manchester City's Ilkay Gundogan were captured in a photo with Erdoğan earlier this year.
The photo was taken during Erdoğan's campaign visit to London to see the Turkey Community in the UK.
The aftermath of the photo hitting the public space saw Ozil criticised for posing for a photo with the president.
Following a group stage exit at the World Cup where Germany were awful, Ozil was allegedly blamed for the team's poor outing and the Arsenal star subsequently retired from the National team.
Ozil is of Turkish lineage. His grandparents were Turkish who migrated to Germany.