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Pro-Kurdish footballer Deniz Naki shot at on German motorway Pro-Kurdish footballer Deniz Naki shot at on German motorway
(about 1 hour later)
German prosecutors have opened an investigation into attempted murder after a German-Turkish football player, known for his pro-Kurdish views, was fired at on a motorway. German prosecutors have opened an attempted murder investigation after a German-Turkish football player known for his pro-Kurdish views was fired at on a motorway.
Deniz Naki, who plays for the Turkish third-tier side Amedspor in the majority-Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, was unharmed in the incident late Sunday but told German media he had feared for his life. Deniz Naki, who plays for the Turkish third-tier club Amedspor in the majority-Kurdish city of Diyarbakır, was unharmed in the incident in western Germany late on Sunday, but told German media he had feared for his life.
He said his SUV came under attack from a black van on the A4 motorway near the western town of Dueren, forcing him onto the hard shoulder and leaving two bullets lodged in his car. He said his car came under fire from a black van on the A4 motorway near Düren, forcing him on to the hard shoulder and leaving two bullets lodged in the SUV.
“I was afraid for my life,” the German-born player, 28, told Die Welt newspaper. “I was afraid for my life,” the German-born player told Die Welt newspaper.
“One bullet hit my car in the middle of the window, the other landed near a tyre. Luckily, I wasn’t hit.”“One bullet hit my car in the middle of the window, the other landed near a tyre. Luckily, I wasn’t hit.”
Naki, who represented Germany at under-19 level and also played for Hamburg-based top German side FC St Pauli, said he was convinced he was targeted because of his criticism of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Naki, 28, who represented Germany at under-19 level and also played for the German club FC St Pauli, said he was convinced he was targeted because of his criticism of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
“I am a walking target in Turkey because of my pro-Kurdish stance,” he told the bento online news portal. “I am a walking target in Turkey because of my pro-Kurdish stance,” he told bento, an online news portal.
He said he believed the attacker was either a Turkish government agent or a right-wing Turkish radical. He said he believed the attacker was either a Turkish government agent or a rightwing Turkish radical.
“I always knew that something like this could happen, but I would never have thought it could happen in Germany,” Naki told Die Welt. “I always knew that something like this could happen, but I would never have thought it could happen in Germany,” he told Die Welt.
Naki, who is in Germany for a visit, was last year convicted of making terror propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and handed a suspended jail term by a Turkish court. Naki, who was visiting Germany, was convicted last year of making terrorist propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party and handed a suspended prison term by a Turkish court.
The sentence came after he criticised the government’s operations against PKK militants in Turkey’s southeast on social media. The sentence came after he used social media to criticise the government’s operations against PKK militants in south-east Turkey.
He denied the charges, saying he only wanted to give a message of peace in the deadly standoff between the army and Kurdish militants. He denied the charges, saying he only wanted to offer a message of peace in the deadly standoff between the army and Kurdish militants.
A spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office in the western German city of Aachen said an investigation into “attempted murder” had been launched, but declined to say whether a political motive was suspected. A spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office in Aachen declined to say whether a political motive for the incident was suspected.
“We are investigating in all directions,” Katja Schlenkermann-Pitts told AFP. “We are investigating in all directions,” said Katja Schlenkermann-Pitts.