Turkish sports minister Osman Bak has condemned an attack on the car of German footballer of Turkish descent Ilkay Gundogan in Cologne last Saturday.
Gundogan and another Germany international of Turkish origin Mesut Ozil met with the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in London last month. The duo presented their autographed jerseys to Erdogan and Gundogan signed the shirt ‘my president’.
Reports in Germany claimed the attack on Gundogan was linked to his meeting with the Turkish president.
Bak criticised the behavior towards the Arsenal star and Gundogan as being ‘ugly’.
Local media linked the attack on Gundogan to his recent meeting with Erdogan in London.
Sport Bild’s football chief Christian Falk broke the news on Twitter on Saturday morning.
See More: Turkish players who will play in the 2018 World Cup
Exclusive: Rioters in Germany destroyed the car of @IlkayGuendogan. Was it because of the photo with Erdogan, president of Turkey? @BILD_Sport @BILD_National11 @SPORTBILD @ManCity pic.twitter.com/SCHHmHpv6O
— Christian Falk (@cfbayern) June 16, 2018
See More: Turkish players who will play in the 2018 World Cup
“This behavior towards Mesut Ozil and Ilkay Gundogan is very ugly,” Bak said on Monday.
The sports minister did however, reveal that Germany are his favorites to win the World Cup.
“My favorite team is Germany with its disciplined game,” he added.
Ozil started in Germany’s shock 1-0 defeat against Mexico in their opening World Cup 2018 game.
Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan was an unused substitute against El Tri.
The reigning World Cup champions will take on Sweden next on Saturday in Group F.