Arsenal star weds with Erdogan as best man

Mesut Ozil courts further controversy in Germany as Turkish president assists at Istanbul ceremony

MESUT OZIL, the former German international footballer, has married his fiancée in Istanbul, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as best man.

Ozil, a third-generation German, married one-time Miss Turkey Amine Gulse as Mr Erdogan and his wife joined 300 guests during Friday’s ceremony at a luxury hotel on the banks of the Bosphoros.

The Arsenal midfielder, 30, who has Turkish roots, faced questions over his loyalty to Germany on the eve of their disastrous 2018 World Cup campaign.

After Germany crashed out in the first round, Ozil announced his resignation from the national squad, saying: “I am German when we win, an immigrant when we lose.”

The 2014 World Cup winner, who won 92 caps, said that hate mail and death threats had made him “no longer want to wear the German national team shirt”. German fans had previously voted him their player of the year five times since 2011.

The wedding pictures are sure to cause a storm in Germany, where Ozil’s relationship with Mr Erdogan has come to symbolise the strained relationship between Germans and the Turkish diaspora. Ozil, who was born in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, announced his engagement to Miss Gulse, 26, who he had been dating for about a year, in June last year. It was reported the couple spent £20,500 on a hotel suite and that they made a large donation to the Turkish Red Crescent to provide a meal to 15,000 Syrian refugees to celebrate their nuptials.

In March this year, Ozil was criticised after announcing that the Turkish president would be his best man.

German chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff was part of a chorus of criticism of the invitation. Helge Braun told Bild newspaper then that it “makes one sad” that Ozil would make such a move despite having already been sharply criticised by the German public over an earlier meeting with Mr Erdogan.

Ozil sparked controversy when he was photographed with Mr Erdogan in May 2018 before the World Cup in Russia. After the controversial picture, the German Football Federation (DFB) said: “Football and the DFB defend values which are not sufficiently respected by Mr Erdogan”.

Mr Erdogan, an authoritarian leader, purged the military, police and judiciary after a coup against him failed. His party was banned from campaigning among the Turkish community in Germany, ahead of elections in April 2018.

In March 2017, Mr Erdogan accused Mrs Merkel of acting like a Nazi after ministers were banned from campaigning in Germany on a Turkish referendum on expanding his presidential powers, which he won.

Mr Erdogan often attends Turkish weddings of celebrities, whom he particularly seeks out during election campaigns. He was best man at the weddings of two other football stars, including Emre Belözoğlu, the exNewcastle United midfielder.

His presence at Ozil’s marriage comes ahead of a mayoral election in Istanbul on June 23, required after the original voting in March was annulled following a narrow victory for the main opposition Republican People’s Party.

Ozil is considered one of the most talented attacking midfielders in the world but has had a difficult season at the Emirates and was substituted in the Europa League final.

‘Football and the DFB defend values which are not sufficiently respected by Mr Erdogan’