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MESUT OZIL believes his exile from the Arsenal team is due to his criticism of China’s treatment of Uighur Muslims, according to reports.
The 32-year-old German has not played since March and is not part of Mikel Arteta’s squad for the Premier League or Europa League.
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According to the Mail, Ozil is convinced that his decision to speak out against China’s alleged treatment of Uyghurs is responsible for his exile.
In December, he became embroiled in the country’s controversial handling of the Muslim population in Xinjiang province.
Around 10 million Uyghurs live in the region and there are reports that more than a million were forced into concentration camps.
Reports of torture and indoctrination are widespread, amid growing international condemnation.
In particular, Turkey has harshly criticized China, with Ozil a friend and ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Following his Instagram post last year, Arsenal quickly distanced themselves from the player with the club’s game against Manchester City eliminated by state-run CCTV.
There were also reports of commenters failing to mention Ozil’s name during matches, as well as his profile on the Chinese social media site Weibo being removed.
The midfielder wrote in December: “They burn their Koran. They close their mosques. They ban their schools. They kill their holy men.”
“Men are forced to go to camps and their families are forced to live with Chinese men. Women are forced to marry Chinese men.”
Arsenal quickly issued a club statement that said: “The content posted is Ozil’s personal opinion. As a football club, Arsenal have always adhered to the principle of not getting involved in politics.”
Fast forward earlier this week when the World Cup winner made clear his anger at being knocked down one side.
Ozil wrote: “By signing my contract in 2018, I pledged loyalty and loyalty to the club that I love, Arsenal, and I am saddened that this was not reciprocated.
“As I just found out, loyalty is hard to come by these days.”
He added: “Whatever happens, I will keep fighting for my chance and I will not let my eighth season at Arsenal end like this.
“I can promise you that this difficult decision will not change anything in my way of thinking.”
Mikel Arteta has taken personal responsibility for getting Ozil out of the way.
Claiming that he has ‘failed’ with the former Real Madrid star, the Gunners coach has sent him to train with the Under-23s while the club tries to find a buyer for the final months of his contract.
Arteta said: “The environment around him when I joined was quite difficult and a lot of these things have been going on for eight years.
“My job is to get the best out of each player to contribute to the performance of the team and at this moment I feel that I have failed.
“I wanted the best Mesut possible and at times we were able to get close to that, but at the moment I have not been able to do it because I had to make the decision to leave him out of the squad.
“It has nothing to do with behavior or pay cuts as I keep reading. That is not true.”
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