Germany summons Turkish ambassador over right-wing ‘wolf’ goal celebration

Turkey’s ambassador to Germany has been summoned over a Turkish football player’s “wolf salute” goal celebration, the German foreign ministry said on Thursday, ramping up a diplomatic spat amid reports that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will come to Berlin this weekend.
European soccer’s governing body UEFA opened an investigation into the Turkish centre back Merih Demiral’s celebration after scoring in a Tuesday evening European Championship match. Germany condemned the gesture as racist due to its far-right associations.
Turkey’s foreign ministry said UEFA’s probe was unacceptable and that German authorities’ approach to Demiral “involved xenophobia”.
The ministry had summoned Germany’s ambassador to Ankara over the dispute, a Turkish diplomatic source said on Wednesday.
German and Turkish media reported on Thursday that Erdogan now planned to come to Berlin on Saturday for Turkey’s game against the Netherlands.
Erdogan changed his schedule to attend the game, NTV and other Turkish media reported on Thursday.