Former Arsenal and Germany star Mesut Özil is a candidate for President Erdogan’s AKP party in Turkey

Mesut Özil, the former Arsenal and Germany midfield star has put his name forward in Turkey as a candidate for President Erdogan’s political party.

 

After hanging up his football boots, Mesut Özil, the former Arsenal and Germany legend, has positioned himself for a move into politics. According to welt.de, his name appears on the list of candidates for Turkish President Recep Erdogan’s party.

This was also backed up by the Turkish news portal Haber7 which reported that the name of the 34-year-old ex-international player was on the candidate list of the Turkish governing party AKP.

Presidential and parliamentary elections will take place in Turkey on May 14th. President Erdogan recently announced that ‘surprising names’ would appear on the list of candidates – including a name from sports.

It comes as no surprise that Özil is running for Erdogan’s party. The former footballer has openly acknowledged his friendship with the President for years, and in 2019 Erdogan was even the best man at Özil’s wedding.

Before the 2018 World Cup, Özil caused a stir by posting a photo online with the authoritarian head of state. The midfielder, then a German international, did not distance himself from Erdogan but did not want the image to be understood as a political message. In the course of the debates, Özil later withdrew from the national team.

Born in the city of Gelsenkirchen in western Germany, Özil has regularly commented on political issues in the past. Just two days ago, he called on his followers on Twitter to show solidarity with the Palestinians.

The ex-professional posted a photo in which he was wearing a top with the inscription ‘Freedom for Palestine’, in a message directed against the State of Israel.

Özil is on course with President Erdogan: the 69-year-old politician has played down the Holocaust several times by comparing the Jewish state with the Nazi regime.

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