- Title: Turkish-German footballer acquitted of 'terror charges'
- Date: 8th November 2016
- Summary: DIYARBAKIR, TURKEY (NOVEMBER 8, 2016) (REUTERS) EXTERIORS OF DIYARBAKIR COURTHOUSE PEOPLE ENTERING BUILDING SIGN OF DIYARBAKIR COURTHOUSE VARIOUS OF AMEDSPOR'S TURKISH-GERMAN STRIKER DENIZ NAKI ARRIVING TO COURTHOUSE GERMAN POLITICIAN, MARTINA RENNER TALKING TO WOMEN VARIOUS OF GERMAN POLITICIAN, JAN VAN AKEN, HOLDING ST. PAULI JERSEY WITH IT'S FORMER STRIKER DENIZ NAKI'S NAME ON IT, PRINTED TO SHOW SOLIDARITY WITH TURKISH-GERMAN FOOTBALLER (SOUNDBITE) (German) JAN VAN AKEN, GERMAN POLITICIAN, THE LEFT PARTY, SAYING: "This jersey is a gift from FC St. Pauli to Deniz Naki. They played a friendly match wearing these jerseys two weeks ago to show their support for Deniz Naki. And the club is sending their best wishes." (SOUNDBITE) (German) MARTINA RENNER, GERMAN POLITICIAN, THE LEFT PARTY, SAYING: "Deniz Naki is a very famous football player in Hamburg, in Germany. He has a lot of support their, through the public and through the clubs. And we want to bring a bit of that solidarity to Diyarbakir today to show him that he is not alone and that there are a lot of people at his side. And we hope that he will be acquitted and this case will come to an end soon." VARIOUS OF NAKI GETTING OUT OF THE COURTHOUSE NAKI MAKING A STATEMENT MEN LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) AMEDSPOR STRIKER, DENIZ NAKI, SAYING: "I have always asked for peace in my messages. I didn't want war. I was against killing people. They wanted to twist this and they achieved their goal. I was of course upset but as footballers it is our goal to make people of this region happy. That is what we aim to do this year. We always attribute our victories to our fans who are always with us." NAKI LEAVING
- Embargoed: 23rd November 2016 15:18
- Keywords: Turkey Kurds soccer PKK Deniz Naki Amedspor
- Location: DIYARBAKIR, TURKEY / VARIOUS, GERMANY
- City: DIYARBAKIR, TURKEY / VARIOUS, GERMANY
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA00157L52DB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A Turkish court on Tuesday (November 8) dropped charges against German born Turkish footballer Deniz Naki who was accused of disseminating 'terrorist propaganda' for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Naki, a striker for second division Amedspor in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, was put on trial over his posts on social media that criticized military operations against PKK militants in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey.
"I have always asked for peace in my messages. I didn't want war. I was against killing people. They wanted to twist this and they achieved their goal. I was of course upset but as footballers it is our goal to make people of this region happy. That is what we aim to do this year. We always attribute our victories to our fans who are always with us," Naki told reports after exiting the courthouse.
A former FC St Pauli player, Naki received support outside the court from German politicians from the Left Party.
"This jersey is a gift from FC St. Pauli to Deniz Naki. They played a friendly match wearing these jerseys two weeks ago to show their support for Deniz Naki. And the club is sending their best wishes," said Jan Van Aken.
"He has a lot of support their, through the public and through the clubs. And we want to bring a bit of that solidarity to Diyarbakir today to show him that he is not alone and that there are a lot of people at his side," added Martina Renner.
The ruling comes few days after Turkey arrested co-leaders of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), the second-largest opposition grouping in parliament, as part of a terrorism investigation.
The action against the HDP has heightened concern among Western allies about the state of democracy in Turkey, a NATO member which aspires to join the European Union and which is a buffer between Europe and the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.
More than 110,000 officials - from soldiers and judges to teachers and journalists - have been detained or suspended since a failed military coup in July, in what Erdogan's critics say is a crackdown on all forms of dissent. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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