Mesut Özil’s journey from World Cup icon to AKP insider in Türkiye | OneFootball

Mesut Özil, a 2014 World Cup winner, has moved firmly into politics in Türkiye after joining the AKP’s central decision-making council in January 2025, deepening his alignment with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

According to L'Équipe, his public activity this year has been low key, from distributing iftar food parcels on 27 March with AKP youth in Istanbul to backing the Espressolab coffee chain and urging support for local brands on social media.

On Monday 29 September he took a more diplomatic role in Northern Cyprus, calling for embargoes on local athletes to be lifted, and relaying Erdogan’s greetings before connecting Arda Güler by video from Madrid. The visit came amid mass protests over the 19 March arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem mamoglu, who faces up to 2,340 years in prison on corruption charges.

Born in Gelsenkirchen in 1988 to a family from Zonguldak, he chose Germany over Türkiye in 2008 after Fatih Terim tried to secure him for the national team. He later said he felt no emotion when swapping passports and admitted he did not feel at home on first visiting Zonguldak at 17.

Özil won 92 caps to 2018 and lifted the World Cup in 2014, then quit the Mannschaft in July 2018 citing racism and disrespect after a photo with Erdogan provoked fury in Germany. He finished his club career back in Istanbul, joining Fenerbahçe in January 2021 to huge fanfare, then moving to Basaksehir in 2022 amid injuries and poor form.

Source: L'Équipe