Turkey President Erdogan says wolf gesture row prompted him to attend Turkey quarter-final, media report

President Tayyip Erdogan said he decided to attend Turkey’s Euro 2024 quarter-final in Berlin after a row over a Turkish football player’s “wolf salute” goal celebration earlier this week, CNNTurk and other Turkish media reported on Friday.

“Does anybody ask why the German national jersey has an eagle, or the French jersey a rooster? Merih (Demiral) showed his excitement with that gesture,” Erdogan was quoted as telling reporters Thursday on a flight from Kazakhstan.

UEFA gave Demiral a two-match ban for the politically-charged “wolf” gesture made during his side’s last-16 win against Austria on Tuesday. Turkey meet the Netherlands in the Saturday quarter-final at Berlin’s Olympiastadion.