Mesut Ozil joins Erdogan's party executive

Mesut Ozil , former Real Madrid player, enters politics by joining the executive of the party of Tayyip Erdogan , president of Turkey.

Despite being born in Germany - and having won the World Cup with his national team in 2014 - he became a member of the AKP central council at a congress in Ankara where Erdogan was re-elected for the ninth time as head of the conservative party that has governed Turkey since 2002.

Ozil, who ended his career at Istanbul club Fenerbahce after spells with Arsenal, Werder Bremen and Real Madrid, is a long-time supporter of Erdogan, having chosen him as his best man in 2019 for his wedding to former Miss Turkey, Amine Gülse.

A photo of Ozil and Erdogan with his former Germany teammate Ilkay Guendogan, also of Turkish origin, was highly controversial, as Berlin accused the Turkish head of state of repressive tendencies, while Ozil was criticised by the German far right.

Ozil, previously considered a symbol of a multicultural Germany, has turned his back on the German national team , accusing the German Football Association of racism.