The fuss about the wolf salute overshadowed Turkey’s European Championship quarter-final against the Netherlands in Berlin. Police intervened during the fan march and ultimately put an end to it.
Because many Turkish football fans kept showing the controversial wolf salute, the Berlin police ended the fan march before the European Championship quarter-final against the Netherlands. The reason was “continued political messages”, as the police announced on the X platform on Saturday a few hours before kick-off at 9 p.m.
Turkish fans would be asked via loudspeaker announcements to go to the stadium individually if they had a ticket for the game, it said.
About an hour earlier, the officers had already interrupted the fan march for the first time and appealed to the Turkish fans to refrain from showing the gesture. A fan march is “not a platform for political messages,” wrote the police. The chairman of the police union called on fans in Germany on Saturday to refrain from showing the wolf salute.
Demiral causes a stir over wolf greeting
The fuss surrounding the wolf salute by Turkish national player Merih Demiral had further heated up the situation before the European Championship match in Berlin. Demiral had shown the gesture in the round of 16 against Austria after his second goal and was therefore banned for two matches by UEFA.
The decision of the European Football Union sparked some outrage in Turkey. Turkish football ultras called on fans to show the wolf salute in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.
Due to criticism of the gesture from the German government, Ankara summoned the German ambassador to Turkey. The Foreign Office in Berlin summoned the Turkish ambassador the following day. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that he would attend the game.
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Source: Stern
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