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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
James Whaling

Arsenal accused of "overt discrimination" against Mesut Ozil by Turkish Cypriot leaders

Arsenal have been accused of "overtly discriminating" against Mesut Ozil with the midfielder frozen out at the Emirates.

The Gunners were sent an open letter by the Council of Turkish Cypriot Associations after Mikel Arteta opted against picking Ozil in his squad for either the Premier League or Europa League.

Ertugrul Mehmet is the chairman of the organisation which represents the UK's 300,000 Turkish Cypriot population.

And he claimed the Gunners have treated Ozil 'differently from other non-British players making a stand against injustice'.

It follows Ozil's criticism of the Chinese government over the plight of Uighur Turks in December last year.

Ozil continues to be frozen out at Arsenal (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

The letter references Hector Bellerin urging people to vote in the General Election under the hashtag "f*** Boris".

Star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was supported by Arsenal during last month's protests against police brutality in Nigeria.

And Mehmet has warned the club over the dangers of damaging its relationship with the Turkish fan base in north London.

“This action taken by the club has compounded the sense in our community that Arsenal is overtly discriminating against our community," he wrote.

Ozil has failed to play a single second of competitive football since March 7 but remains the club's highest-paid player on £350,000-a-week.

He has vowed to see out the remainder of his contract at the Emirates, which runs until the summer of 2021.

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