Özil shares a letter on social media after criticism over picture with Turkey's Erdoğan

Turkish-origin German national football player Mesut Özil has penned an open letter defending the picture which he posed for alongside Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Özil and Germany teammate İlkay Gündoğan hit the headlines for the snap with Erdoğan.
Özil, who is of mixed German and Turkish heritage, explained his thoughts over the picture by describing that it was not the result of any political intentions.

He also added that it was simply a matter of respect to the president of the country of his ancestors, and that they discussed football as Erdoğan used to play as a youngster.

In a lengthy statement on his Twitter account, Özil defended the picture and said he would have posed for the shot whoever was in Office.

Özil wrote: "The past couple of weeks have given me time to reflect, and time to think over the events of the last few months. Consequently, I want to share my thoughts and feelings about what has happened.

"Like many people, my ancestry traces back to more than one country. Whilst I grew up in Germany, my family background has its roots firmly based in Turkey. I have two hearts, one German and one Turkish. During my childhood, my mother taught me to always be respectful and to never forget where I came from, and these are still values that I think about to this day.
"In May, I met President Erdoğan in London, during a charitable and educational event. We first met in 2010 after he and Angela Merkel watched the Germany vs Turkey match together in Berlin. Since then, our paths have crossed a lot of times around the glove. I'm aware that the picture of us caused a huge response in the German media, and whilst some people may accuse me of lying or being deceitful, the picture we took had no political intentions. As I said, my mother has never let me lose sight of my ancestry, heritage and family traditions. For me, having a picture with President Erdoğan wasn't about politics or elections, it was about me respecting the highest office of my family's country. My job is a football player and not a politician, and our meeting was not about endorsement of any policies. In fact, we spoke about the same topic that we do every time we have met - football - as he too was a player in his youth.

"Although the German media have portrayed something different, the truth is that not meeting with the President would have been disrespecting he roots of my ancestors, who I know would be proud of where I am today. For me, it didn't matter who was President, it mattered that it was the President. Having respect for political office is a view that I'm sure both the Queen and Prime Minister Theresa May share when they too hosted Erdoğan in London. Whether it had been the Turkish or the German President, my actions would've been no different.

"I get that this may be hard to understand, as in most cultures the political leader cannot be thought of as being separate from the person. But in this case, it is different. Whatever the outcome would've been in this previous election, or the election before that, I would have still taken the picture."