Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has confirmed he will attend the national team's Euro 2024 quarter-final against the Netherlands in Berlin on July 6 and hopes that the affair around defender Merih Demiral will be over by then.
According to Erdogan, Demiral had only shown his "excitement" when he made the wolf salute after scoring in the last-16 match against Austria. Demiral was suspended by UEFA for two matches for the gesture.
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 Turkish 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."
