Overview
- On Monday Demirbay told Turkish journalist Yağız Sabuncuoğlu that he would refuse any future call from the German national team and that he now identifies as Turkish.
- He said he spent about one and a half years trying to win a senior call-up from the Turkish federation before choosing Germany for reasons he declined to detail.
- Demirbay says the turning point came after his 2017 Confederations Cup goal against Cameroon when he removed his shirt and his Turkey‑outline tattoo became visible, and he was never called up again.
- Reports note an alternative, non‑political explanation: deep competition in Germany’s central midfield at the time from players such as Toni Kroos, Ilkay Gündogan, Leon Goretzka and Sami Khedira, and there has been no formal DFB rebuttal to Demirbay’s specific claims.
- Now playing for Kasımpaşa since January 2026, Demirbay’s remarks are likely to revive public debates in Germany and Turkey about national identity, treatment of dual‑national players and how symbolic expressions of heritage are received.