Arsenal star Mesut Ozil has risked another backlash by sitting down to dinner with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The playmaker and his fiancee Amine Gulse were pictured alongside Erdogan at the Dolmabahce Palace enjoyed a meal in Istanbul over the weekend.
The president was meeting gusts for an Iftar - a break of the fast observed during Ramadan.
Ozil, who is third generation Turkish-German, was widely criticised for meeting Erdogan before the World Cup last summer, where both he and Germany spectacularly flopped as they exited in the group stages.
He met with the controversial president in London last May , alongside fellow Germany international Ilkay Gundogan and Everton's Cenk Tosun, who plays international football for Turkey.
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A figure deeply opposed to freedom of expression, Erdogan is one of the most controversial presidents in the world today, and has now increased his presidential power following a failed coup in 2016.
German fans turned on Ozil following his displays at the World Cup, criticising the meeting with Erdogan.
Following the backlash, the 30-year-old - who won the World Cup in 2014 - retired from international football claiming that he had received racist abuse and saying that the German FA had made him a scapegoat for the World Cup misery.
"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 in a statement at the time.
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"My job is a football player and not a politician, and our meeting was not an endorsement of any policies."
German publication Bild claim that Ozil has asked Erdogan to act as a witness at his wedding next month.
