Mesut Ozil has opened up on his new life in Istanbul following his retirement from football in 2023 – and revealed that he has still not healed the rift with his father that opened up 13 years ago with his move away from Real Madrid.
The former Germany international was born to two Turkish immigrant parents in Gelsenkirchen, but has always felt deep ties to his ancestral homeland, which eventually saw him move to Fenerbahce after his spell at Arsenal.
After calling time on his playing career with a final turn at Basaksehir, Ozil has continued to call Istanbul home.
2019 saw Ozil buy a plot of land in the city’s upmarket Kucuk Camlica district for an eye-watering sum thought to be close to $10million (£7.45m) with sweeping views over the Bosphorus below
Th 37-year-old has since completed works on a mega-mansion complete with a swanky gym and unique circular water feature in front of the property – a frequent backdrop for his influencer wife Amine’s photoshoots.
As per Bild, the elite location allows the former midfielder to be neighbours with the best man at his 2019 wedding, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Ozil and the president have been close friends since the event, and when Erdogan is visiting the city from his presidential residence in Ankara, the former is said to be able to stop by his country’s leader’s address even without an invitation or notice.
Such is the bond between them that Ozil’s daughters Eda and Ela, with Ozil and Amine expecting a third daughter this year, are thought to call the premier ‘Grandpa’.
While Ozil and his wife have maintained contact with their children’s biological grandmother, his mother Gulizar – who is said to be preparing for a visit to support with their third child – bonds with his father are said to remain severed.
Ozil allegedly has not had contact with Mustafa since 2013, when his father, then his agent, had failed to broker a contract extension at Real Madrid.
At the time, Daily Mail Sport reported that the club had accused Ozil and his father of ‘greed’, while Mustafa had called club president Florentino Perez ‘not an honourable man’.
Mustafa later sued his son for £495,000 after he was replaced in the role by his other son Mutlu.
But despite keeping a low profile in Turkey working on his football academy and supporting charitable initiatives, his post-retirement era has not been without controversy.
In 2024 while working out in his elaborate home gym, Ozil showed off a tattoo featuring a grey wolf and a flag with three crescent moons, symbols widely associated with the Grey Wolves, a far-right extremist, ultra-nationalist and anti-Semitic group.
The group is banned in a number of countries, and due to his alleged political affiliations, Ozil was left off the guest list for a Werder Bremen tribute for former player Diego Ribas in 2025.
‘We have agreed with Diego not to invite Mesut due to his recent actions, which do not represent the club’s values,’ a spokesperson said.
The Grey Wolves, since their inception, had been linked to numerous violent acts, including an attempted assassination on Pope John Paul II back in 1981, and some of their members have even been accused of murder.
Among the nations that have banned the Grey Wolves’ activity are France and Austria, the former doing so after a monument to the Armenian genocide near Lyon was defaced with pro-Turkish slogans in 2020.
Asked by the Telegraph in 2025 if the tattoo on his chest was a reference to the Grey Wolves, Ozil’s representatives did not respond.
In 2024, Ozil was also alleged to have posted and deleted a map which appeared to deny the existence of the state of Israel.
The former Arsenal star had long been an outspoken supporter of Palestine amid roiling conflict in the region, and is believed to have shared a picture of a map with Israel crossed out with a red X, with the word ‘Palestine’ underlined in bold letters.
