Erdogan to attend Turkey match, says Demiral only showed 'excitement'

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has confirmed he will attend the national team's Euro 2024 quarter-final against the Netherlands in Berlin on Saturday and hopes that the affair around defender Merih Demiral will be over by then.

Erdogan told the Anadolu news agency that Demiral had only shown his "excitement" when he made the controversial wolf salute after scoring in the last-16 match against Austria.

Demiral was suspended by UEFA for two matches for the gesture which is attributed, among other things, to a far-right extremist movement. The movement known as “Ülkücü” or “grey wolves” are linked to Erdogan's political allies, the ultra-nationalist MHP in Turkey.

Erdogan did not mention the sanction, but it was not fully clear whether he had talked to Anadolu before or after the UEFA decision was announced.

Erdogan labelled criticism of the incident excessive, saying: "Does anyone say anything about the fact that there's an eagle on the Germans' shirts? Does anyone say anything about the fact that the French have a cockerel on their shirts and why they act like cockerels?"

The president said he would be at the match and expressed hope that "the whole thing is over on Saturday when we leave the pitch as winners and reach the next round."