German football star Mesut Ozil quit the national team in Sunday, citing “racism and disrespect” over his Turkish roots.
In a stinging four-page English statement on his Twitter account, he said: "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."
The Arsenal midfielder took aim at German Football Association (DFB) bosses, sponsors and the media.
Ozil, 29, was a key member of Germany's World Cup-winning side in 2014 and has been voted by fans as the team's player of the year five times since 2011.
He faced a barrage of criticism at home for having his photograph taken with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in May. He and Ilkay Gundogan, a team mate also of Turkish descent who posed with Erdogan as well, were jeered by German fans in warm-up games before the World Cup in Russia.
Germany failed to qualify from the group stage, making their earliest exit from the tournament in 80 years and Ozil was one of the scapegoats for their unsuccessful title defense.
Ozil said DFB President Reinhard Grindel had blamed him for Germany's poor performance.
"In the eyes of Grindel and his supporters I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose," he stated.
He added he did not feel accepted in German society despite paying taxes there, making donations to German schools and being part of the team that won the World Cup.
"It is with a heavy heart and after much consideration that because of recent events, I will no longer be playing for Germany at international level whilst I have this feeling of racism and disrespect," he said.
"Is it because it is Turkey? Is it because I'm a Muslim? I think here lays an important issue," he said.
Ozil questioned whether there were criteria for being German that he did not meet and asked why he should be referred to as German-Turkish when fellow German football players Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose were not referred to as German-Polish.
Ozil’s announcement came amid a political debate in Germany about an influx of 1.6 million migrants since mid-2014 that has seen a rise of the far right at the expense of traditional parties.
His explosive statement, in three separate postings on Twitter and Instagram, was hailed by the Turkish government of Erdogan.
"I congratulate Mesut Ozil who by leaving the national team has scored the most beautiful goal against the virus of fascism," Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul wrote on Twitter.
A German government spokeswoman later said that Chancellor Angela Merkel respected Ozil's decision, describing him as a “great footballer who did a lot for the national team.”
“Germany is country in which people with migrant background are welcome and the government sees integration as a key task,” she went on to add. “Most of people of Turkish descent in Germany are well-integrated.”
Germany's Social Democrat Justice Minister Katarina Barley said on Twitter: "It's alarming if a great German football player like Mesut Ozil no longer feels wanted in his country and doesn't feel represented by the DFB due to racism."
Veteran Greens lawmaker Cem Ozdemir, who has Turkish roots, said Ozil's photo was wrong and his explanation unconvincing but added: "The way the DFB leadership acted is at least as disastrous - Grindel is hacking our history of integration to pieces."
He voiced dismay that "young German-Turks now get the impression that they have no place in the German national team".
The DFB has so far stayed mum, and in a first reaction from his former teammates, defender Jerome Boateng wrote on Twitter only using the Turkish word for "brother": "It was a pleasure, Abi."
Former DFB chief Theo Zwanziger warned that the debacle was a "serious blow to the integration efforts in our country that goes beyond football".
For Tagesspiegel, the entire affair was a "watershed for sports, politics and society."
"Ultimately, Ozil did not fall because of Grindel but because of a heated, populist mood in Germany," said the newspaper.
But others criticized Ozil, with Thomas Bareiss, a senior member of Merkel's conservatives, saying Ozil's accusations of racism and a lack of respect were "out of place".
Mass-selling newspaper Bild said: "Ozil is reveling in the victim role that has nothing to do with reality".
Ozil, a third-generation German-Turk, has 92 caps for Germany and has scored 23 goals.
Earlier on Sunday he defended the photograph in which he was pictured beaming with Erdogan, who was campaigning for re-election at the time.
"For me having a picture with President Erdogan wasn't about politics or elections, it was about me respecting the highest office of my family's country," he said.
Ozil said his mother had always told him to be respectful and remember his ancestry, heritage and family traditions, adding: "I have two hearts, one German and one Turkish."
Many fans and politicians in Germany were angered by the photo with Erdogan and it was widely criticized by politicians and Germany's football federation, which argued that Erdogan did not sufficiently respect German values.
