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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 14 hours later) | |
| German-Turkish player, sentenced last year by Turkish court for terrorist propaganda, unharmed after his car came under fire | |
| Agence France-Presse in Berlin | |
| Mon 8 Jan 2018 14.39 GMT | |
| Last modified on Mon 8 Jan 2018 16.28 GMT | |
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| 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. | 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 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. | 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 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. | 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 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, 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. | 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 bento, an 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 rightwing 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,” he 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 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. | 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 used social media to criticise the government’s operations against PKK militants in south-east Turkey. | 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 offer 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 Aachen declined to say whether a political motive for the incident 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,” said Katja Schlenkermann-Pitts. | “We are investigating in all directions,” said Katja Schlenkermann-Pitts. |
| Germany | |
| Turkey | |
| Kurds | |
| Europe | |
| Middle East and North Africa | |
| news | |
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