On Sunday, professional football player Mesut Özil announced his retirement from international football, citing "racism and disrespect" in Germany over his Turkish roots as the main reasons.
The German Arsenal F.C. midfielder said the discriminatory treatment made him realize he "no longer want[s] to wear the German national team shirt".
"I used to wear the German shirt with such pride and excitement, but now I don't. I feel unwanted and think that what I have achieved since my international debut in 2009 has been forgotten," he said.
This comes after the Muslim footballer received heavy criticism, hate mail, and threats over a photo he took with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan back in May.
The 29-year-old was also called out for his performance with Germany during this year's World Cup.
"I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose," Özil wrote in a statement.
Following the announcement, the footballer posted a lengthy statement on social media in which he states that he does not feel accepted in Germany "despite paying taxes, donating facilities to German schools, and winning the 2014 World Cup in Germany."
"Is it because I am Turkish? Is it because I'm a Muslim? I think here lays an important issue... The treatment I have received from the [German Football Association] makes me no longer want to wear the German national team shirt," Özil wrote.
On meeting with Turkey's President Erdoğan
In May, Özil met with Erdoğan during his visit to the United Kingdom, sparking an intense backlash from both people and politicians, including Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Reinhard Grindel, chief of the German Football Association (DFB) said it was "not a good thing" for the players to pose with Erdoğan.
"The DFB, of course, respects the special situation for our players with migrant backgrounds, but football and the DFB stands for values that Mr. Erdoğan does not sufficiently respect," Grindel said at the time.
However, in his recent statement, the footballer made it clear that the photos came with no political incentive.
"For me, having a picture with President Erdoğan wasn't about politics or elections, it was about me respecting the highest office of my family's country," Özil wrote.
"My job is a football player and not a politician, and our meeting was not an endorsement of any policies."
"They just criticized my Turkish ancestry and respect for my upbringing"
Özil went on to explain the consequences the photo had brought to his career.
"I was asked to take part in promotional videos for the World Cup. After my picture with President Erdoğan, they took me out of the campaigns and canceled all promotional activities that were scheduled," the footballer wrote.
"For them, it was no longer good to be seen with me and called the situation 'crisis management'," he added.
"The issue that has frustrated me the most has been the mistreatment from the German Football Association"
"I am treated as being 'different'," he wrote, before going on to list a few of the accomplishments he has made over the past years.
"I have received the 'Bambi Award' in 2010 as an example of successful integration to German society, a 'Silver Laurel Leaf' in 2014 from the Federal Republic of Germany and I was a 'German Football Ambassador' in 2015. But, clearly, I am not German ...?" Özil wrote.
"I was born and educated in Germany, so why don't people accept that I'm German?"