Arsenal's Ozil condemns Muslim silence over Uighurs

Arsenal's Mesut Ozil, a German footballer of Turkish origin, expressed support for Uighurs in Xinjiang and criticized Muslim countries for ir failure to speak up for m. "Korans are being burnt... Mosques are being shut down ... Muslim schools are being banned ... Religious scholars are being killed one by one ... Brors are forcefully being sent to camps," Ozil wrote in Turkish on his Twitter account.= " Muslims are silent. ir voice is t heard," he wrote on a background of a blue field with a white crescent moon, flag of what Uighur separatists call East Turkestan.

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China has faced growing international condemnation for setting up a vast network of camps in Xinjiang aimed at homogenizing Uighur population to reflect China's majority Han culture. Rights groups and experts say more than one million Uighurs and people of or mostly Muslim ethnic mirities have been rounded up in camps in tightly-controlled region. After initially denying camps existed, China describes m as vocational schools aimed at dampening allure of Islamist extremism and violence.

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Turkey, which takes its name from Turkic people who migrated from central Asia, is home to a Uighur community and has regularly raised concerns about situation in Xinjiang. In his tweet, Ozil said Western states and media h kept Uighur issue on ir nda and ded: "what will be remembered years later would t be torture by tyrants but silence of ir Muslim brors." Arsenal moved to distance mselves from Ozil's comments in a bid to limit fallout in China, where club has numerous commercial interests.

" content published is Ozil's personal opinion," club said in a Chinese langu post Saturday on its official account on Twitter-like Weibo platform.

"As a football club, Arsenal has always hered to principle of t involving itself in politics." 

But a few angry fans called for a ban on airing Arsenal games featuring Ozil.

"I hope y ban Ozil's matches and business activities (in China)," wrote one Weibo user.

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Ar Chinese fan said she "cried last night" after reing post, which star h also uploed to Instagram.

"For over a dece, I've worn an Arsenal jersey with Ozil's number. It will never be worn again," she wrote on Weibo.

31-year-old footballer sparked controversy last year when he was photographed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, raising questions about his loyalty to Germany on eve of ir 2018 World Cup campaign. Ozil later quit national squ, accusing German football officials of racism. Erdogan was Ozil's best man when footballer was married in Istanbul this year. 

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