Turkey celebrates its third qualification to the quarter-finals of a European Championship and thanks his coach, Vincenzo Montella. “Grazias” said the Turkish president, in a halting Italian Recep Tayyp Erdogan in the phone call to the team after the victory over Austria in Leipzig. “Tesekkurler Baskan”, ‘thank you president’ replied the 50-year-old coach from Campania in Turkish. “Thank you for everything”, added Erdogan, “unfortunately political commitments prevent me from coming to see the games, but I follow you step by step and with my heart I am with you”. “I am sure of it”, replied the coach.
“Great Montella”, headlined the sports daily Fanatik praising his tactical moves who “prevented the Austrian pressure”. The same media that had him on the grill for having kept Real Madrid’s jewel, Arda Guler, on the bench in the second match of the group stage, lost 3-0 to Portugal, are praising him. “Another revenge awaits us in the quarter-finals”, is Aksam’s title referring to the challenge with Holland, who in 2021 had crushed the crescent team 6-1 (just like Austria before this European Championship).
Montella, the only Italian coach (out of 5) to have landed in the top eight, has now entered the hearts of the Turks, the press and the fans. Some on social media are celebrating his choices and calling him ‘commander’. For once, the entire country is rejoicing across the board. Some people mention the crescent moon reflected on the waters of the Bosphorus these days, so similar to that of the Turkish flag, others thank the feline reflex with which goalkeeper Mert Gunok denied the equaliser in the last minute, someone else admits “the first goal was a gift of destiny”.
What is certain is that all the fans now believe in it, Holland is not scary and the team seems to have found the spirit shown in the qualifying round. “I saw the team that led the group and won against Croatia, I saw the same spirit again”, Montella’s words at the end of the match. The 6-1 defeat by Austria last March had raised fears that the toy had broken and that the splendid team that had won the qualifying round had been lost. The victories against Georgia, the Czech Republic and now Austria have however done good to the second youngest team in the tournament, technically gifted, but tremendously emotional, capable of highs and lows.
The quarter-finals brought back to life in Istanbul the atmosphere of 2008, when Fatih Terim’s national team reached the semi-finals at the European Championship before surrendering to Germany. Chants, smoke bombs and carousels characterised the night in Istanbul and giant screens sprung up in various parts of the city. Even that ‘second Turkey’ made up of three million people living in Germany believes in it: with 130 thousand fans present in the stands in the group stage, Turks have become the biggest fans of the European Championship. “Here we are in Germany, here we will never be away,” the commentator chanted yesterday at the start of the match when the cheering of the Turkish supporters was deafening. A wave of red flags with the crescent moon invaded not only Leipzig yesterday, but the whole country is now determined to move forward, all the way to Berlin, under the guidance of its Italian leader.
To counterbalance the sporting joy of an entire country, there is the political case linked to the exultation of the player Merih Demiral who after the second goal against Austria did the gesture of the gray wolves, a Turkish nationalist organization: UEFA has opened an investigation for “inappropriate behavior” under Article 31 of the disciplinary regulations.
How happy is the one who says I am a Turk! pic.twitter.com/4K3kVPFxgW
— Merih Demiral (@Merihdemiral)
July 2, 2024
There have been harsh reactions in Germany and Austria, where the presence of thousands of Turks affiliated with the far-right group is a public order problem. The ‘wolf sign’, which consists of joining the thumb and middle finger while leaving the other fingers high to imitate a wolf, is even banned in Austria, where the group is banned and its salute is punishable by a fine of up to 4,000 euros. “These paramilitaries are responsible for thousands of deaths and are in government with Erdogan’s party,” Austrian journalist Michael Bonvalot denounced on X.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser condemned Demiral’s gesture, explaining that “symbols of right-wing extremism have no place in stadiums” in Germany, and called for sanctions against the Turkish defender. The former Juve and Atalanta defender defended his celebration after the Leipzig match: “I had it in mind and I did it,” he said, “I am very proud because I am Turkish”. On X he then posted the photo with Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s motto, “happy is he who calls himself a Turk.”
Turkish Sports Minister Osman Askin Bak shared the photo on X with the comment “All said” and a Turkish flag in the background. In 2021, the European Parliament called on all EU member states to blacklist the Grey Wolves as terrorist organizations because they pose a threat to anyone of Armenian, Kurdish or Greek origin. It was a Grey Wolf, Mehmet Ali Aca, to shoot Pope John Paul II in 1981, in what is undoubtedly the group’s most internationally notorious terrorist operation.
Ankara defends Demiral, ambassador summoned
Turkey’s harsh reaction to criticism of Demiral for celebrating with the Grey Wolves salute. The government in Ankara has summoned the German ambassador to protest against the statement by German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser that “symbols of the Turkish far right must have no place in German stadiums”.
In a press release, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also defined “Unacceptable” the investigation opened by UEFA against the former Sassuolo, Juve and Atalanta defender. The Minister of Justice, Yilmaz Tunc, echoed his sentiments: “We consider both the opening of a file by UEFA and the statements of the German Interior Minister to be unacceptable. We are witnessing so many celebrations that are turned a blind eye, even racist and Islamophobic – said the Minister of Justice – here people are raising their voices only because it concerns Turkey. A clear attempt to cast a shadow on the results of our national team, which I am sure will not be influenced”.