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A football championship is also an identity check for millions of Germans of Turkish origin. For many, choosing a team was an easy decision.
By Tariq Panja and Rory Smith
Tariq Panja and Rory Smith reported from Istanbul, Munich, Cologne, Hamburg and Dortmund, Germany.
Erkan Aykan does not need a second invitation to share his glory. He grew up in a Turkish family in Gelsenkirchen, a market town nestled in the center of Germany’s Ruhr Valley. A little more famous, Ilkay Gundogan, the captain of the country’s team. football team, he did too. “I know his cousins,” he says proudly.
Listening politely, perhaps indulgently, his brother Talha waits for Erkan to finish and immediately overtakes him. “He in my elegance at school,” Talha said of Gundogan. “I played football with him when we were kids. “
The speed with which they both set up their Gundogan illustrated their pride in having a connection with the German captain and their satisfaction at seeing him lead his country in the European Championship.
However, this fidelity does not go unnoticed. Both brothers need Gundogan to succeed this month, they said. But like millions of other Germans of Turkish descent, they need someone else to win the tournament. “Only Turkey,” they replied in unison when asked who they would choose for Euro 2024. We live here. We were born here, but our hearts are in Turkey.
This sense of shared pride – reflected in the Turkish flags and t-shirts ubiquitous this month on German streets and stadiums – reflects the scale of the Turkish or Turkish-origin population in Germany. With more than seven million people, Germany’s Turkish network is the largest minority organization in Europe’s largest country.
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