Football star weds with Turkish President Erdogan as best man

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with Turkish-German football player Mesut Ozil and his wife Amine Gulse. Photo / AP

Mesut Ozil, the former German international footballer, has married his fiancée in Istanbul, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as best man.

Ozil, a third-generation German, married one-time Miss Turkey Amine Gulse as Erdogan and his wife Emine joined 300 guests during the ceremony at a luxury hotel on the banks of the Bosphoros.

The Arsenal midfielder, 30, who has Turkish roots, faced questions over his loyalty to Germany on the eve of their disastrous 2018 World Cup campaign. After Germany crashed out in the first round, Ozil announced his resignation from the national squad, saying: "I am German when we win, an immigrant when we lose."

The 2014 World Cup winner, who won 92 caps, said that hate mail and death threats had made him "no longer want to wear the German national team shirt". German fans had previously voted him their player of the year five times since 2011.

Erdogan, centre right, Mesut Ozil, centre, his wife Amine Gulse, centre left, Erdogan's wife Emine Erdogan pose for a photo with family members during a wedding ceremony in Istanbul. Photo / AP

The wedding pictures are sure to cause a storm in Germany, where Ozil's relationship with Erdogan has come to symbolise the strained relationship between Germans and the Turkish diaspora.

Ozil, who was born in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, announced his engagement to Gulse, 26, who he had been dating for about a year, in June last year. In March this year, Ozil was criticised after announcing that the Turkish President would be his best man. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff Helge Braun told Bild newspaper then that it "makes one sad" that Ozil would make such a move.

Ozil sparked controversy when he was photographed with Erdogan in May 2018 before the World Cup in Russia. The German Football Federation (DFB) said: "Football and the DFB defend values which are not sufficiently respected by Mr Erdogan".

Erdogan purged the military, police and judiciary after a coup against him failed.