Arsenal accused of discrimination against Mesut Ozil

Mesut Ozil's future at Arsenal is uncertain but his follower count isn't dropping anytime soon. According to reports, the Council of Turkish Cypriot Associations has written an open letter to Arsenal on Wednesday.

In the letter, the Premier League club has been accused of displaying "double standards." Also, the group has accused the club of "discriminating" against Ozil. The letter heavily criticised the way Arsenal has treated the 2014 FIFA World Cup-winning German.

That's not all, the Turkish Cypriot leaders also accused the club of "overtly discriminating against" the Muslim community. The organisation that wrote the letter represents the UK's 300,00 Turkish Cypriot population.

According to The Sun, the association's chairman, Ertugrul Mehmet, claimed that the club has treated Ozil "differently from other non-British players making a stand against injustice." The letter states, "This action taken by the club has compounded the sense in our community that Arsenal is overtly discriminating against our community."

It's worth noting that back in December 2019, Arsenal distanced themselves from Ozil's online comments that criticised the Chinese government regarding their handling of the Uighur Muslims. Later, the club claimed themselves to be apolitical.

However, according to the letter, the Gunners failed to hold on to a similar stance when Hector Bellerin asked the people of the country to vote in the UK's general election using the hashtag, "F***Boris".

Interestingly, the Gunners also supported their captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang during last month's protests against police brutality. Mehmet went on to warn that the club's relationship with its north London Turkish fan base is in danger.

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Although Ozil didn't play a minute of competitive football since March, he has continued receiving his £350,000 per week wage. The 32-year old has recently been left out of Arsenal's Premier League and UEFA Europa League squads.

The feud between Arsenal and its highest-paid player has recently come to notice on social media. During the coronavirus lockdown, Arsenal had sacked 55 of its staff members. The Gunners had initially made their mascot "Gunnersaurus" redundant. At that point, Ozil had offered to pay a part of his salary in order to keep the Gunnersauras active.

Now that Arsenal has taken a U-turn and decided not to fire their mascot, the former Real Madrid playmaker tweeted, "Happy to see you back where you belong".