2024-07-08 16:24:15
The staging was perfect: thousands of Turkish fans welcomed Erdoğan to the Olympic Stadium, giving the “wolf salute” without hindrance. And the German government? Just watched. A scandal.
What kind of performance was that at the Berlin Olympic Stadium? Recep Tayyip Erdoğan flies to Berlin, is driven in a convoy along the motorway to the stadium, where he is celebrated by thousands of fans.
The fact that Erdoğan was able to fly back home immediately after the game without being put in his place by a member of the German government is a real scandal. The thought that comes to mind is that the Turkish president can do as he pleases in Germany.
This was exactly the message he wanted. Erdoğan was not here primarily to cheer on the Turkish team. He had two messages in his luggage:
One to the Turks in Germany, on whose electoral potential he could always rely: “The German government has no right to tell you anything. I am your authority, and the ‘wolf salute’ is our gesture.” And at the same time one to Germany: “We will not allow our symbolism, our gestures, to be banned.”
It was a demonstration of power from which the autocrat emerged as the clear winner.
Video | Erdogan follows European Championship match — “Wolf salute” in the Olympic Stadium
Quelle: Glomex
This provoked sharp criticism from the German government. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser wrote on Platform X: “Using the European Football Championship as a platform for racism is completely unacceptable.” Ankara saw this as a provocation and summoned the German ambassador. Berlin, in turn, summoned the Turkish ambassador to the Foreign Office.
The climax of these diplomatic skirmishes has now come in Erdoğan’s provocative appearance at the European Championships. He has achieved his goal. Erdoğan has humiliated the German government in front of the entire European Championship audience. While it condemned Demiral’s gesture, it is now simply silent.
Turkey has been knocked out and has to go home, so there are no more opportunities for stadium “wolf salutes”. But Erdoğan can still be happy. Germany: Zero. Turkey: One.