“The way I celebrated has something to do with my Turkish identity,” Demiral said after midnight at the European Championship stadium in Leipzig. “That’s why I made this gesture. I saw people in the stadium who also made this gesture.” There is “no hidden message” behind it. “We are all Turks, I am very proud to be Turkish and that is the meaning of this gesture,” he said. “I just wanted to show how happy I am and how proud I am.” Hopefully there will be more opportunities to show this gesture.
In Germany, doing the wolf salute is not punishable, but in Austria it is. That's where it is Gray Wolves' hand signals banned since 2019Supporters of the far-right “Ülkücü movement”, which is overseen by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Germany, are known as grey wolves. In Turkey, the ultra-nationalist MHP is their political representative and alliance partner with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s conservative Islamist AKP.
Demiral scored the fastest goal in a European Championship round of 16 tie in Leipzig after just 57 seconds and in the 59th minute. He was voted Man of the Match. Turkey will play the Netherlands on Saturday in Berlin for a place in the Euro semi-finals.