Mesut Özil, a German-Turkish football star for Arsenal, and his fiancée attended a fast-breaking dinner on Saturday with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who hosted university students in the presidential office at İstanbul’s Dolmabahçe Palace.
According to the NTV news website Erdoğan held a Q&A session with the attendees after the meal.
Özil had sparked controversy in Germany after meeting with Erdoğan in May 2018, just before the FIFA World Cup international football tournament kicked off.
German politicians criticized Özil and İlkay Gündoğan, another Germany player with Turkish roots, for the meeting.
After the World Cup Özil decided to quit the German national team, claiming discrimination, a move supported by the Turkish president.