Berlin's Turks stoked for Euros quarter-final 'home game'

Members of Berlin's large Turkish community have vowed to paint the town red when their team comes to the German capital to play the Netherlands in Euro 2024 on July 6.

"The atmosphere will be like a home game for us," said Muhammet Ali Sevilmiş, 36, who runs a phone repair shop in Berlin's Kreuzberg district.

There will be "mainly Turks in the stadium," predicted Sevilmiş, who himself forked out 500 euros ($540) for a ticket after Türkiye's victory against Austria to reach the quarter-finals.

"For us Turks, it doesn't really matter whether it's 100 euros more or less. The main thing is that we're in the stadium celebrating on the day," he told AFP.

Sevilmiş will be joined in Berlin's Olympiastadion by Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The Turkish leader has announced his attendance amid a spiralling diplomatic row over a "grey wolf" sign made by Turkish defender Merih Demiral during his team's win over Austria.

He will miss the quarter-final clash after UEFA suspended him for two games on July 5 "for violating the basic rules of decent conduct, for using sports events for manifestations of a non-sporting nature and for bringing the sport of football into disrepute."

The Turkish Football Federation was planning to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

German officials have condemned the hand gesture and UEFA has launched an investigation for "inappropriate behaviour," prompting Ankara to hit back against the accusations as "xenophobia."

Ambassadors of both countries were summoned in tit-for-tat moves as the episode once again laid bare the political tensions that often engulf Germany's Turkish community.

With emotions expected to run high at the match, Berlin police...