Aykut Demir (born 22 October 1988) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre back. Born in the Netherlands, he represents

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

at international level.

Club career

Demir made his debut in professional football in the 2005–06 season as part of the NAC Breda squad. He was loaned to Excelsior and later played for Turkish side Gençlerbirliği before joining Trabzonspor. In 2017, he moved to TFF First League club Giresunspor. In 2019, he signed to BB Erzurumspor. After a one-year stint with Boluspor, he returned to BB Erzurumspor in July 2021.

Personal life

Demir is

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. He was born on 22 October 1988 in

Bergen op Zoom Bergen op Zoom (; called ''Berrege'' in the Brabantian dialect, local dialect) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in southwestern Netherlands. It is located in the Province ...

, Netherlands.

Controversies

On 31 December, Demir was married at age 28. Since his bride was not at the wedding, it was unknown who he married. He was criticized for wearing a

taqiya In Islam, ''taqiyya'' ()R. STROTHMANN, MOKTAR DJEBLI. Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed, Brill. "TAKIYYA", vol. 10, p. 134. Quote: "TAKIYYA "prudence, fear" ... denotes dispensing with the ordinances of religion in cases of constraint of preaching ...

and having a

Tawhid ''Tawhid'' () is the concept of monotheism in Islam, it is the religion's central and single most important concept upon which a Muslim's entire religious adherence rests. It unequivocally holds that God is indivisibly one (''ahad'') and s ...

flag in his wedding hall. In BB Erzurumspor's match with MKE Ankaragücü on 2021–22 TFF First League's 27. match week, All Erzurumspor players wore a "no to war" pre-match ceremony shirt in support of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, except Demir, who refused to wear the shirt. In response to the criticism, he told the media that he did not wear the shirt because he "wouldn't be comfortable wearing it while there were civilians dying in Palestine."

International career

Demir made his debut for

in a November 2013

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

.Intl career stats
- EU Football

References

External links

* * * * * 1988 births Living people Footballers from Bergen op Zoom Dutch sportspeople of Turkish descent Men's association football central defenders Dutch men's footballers Turkish men's footballers Turkey men's international footballers Turkey men's B international footballers Turkey men's under-21 international footballers Turkey men's youth international footballers DOSKO players NAC Breda players Excelsior Rotterdam players Gençlerbirliği S.K. footballers Trabzonspor footballers Ankaraspor footballers Giresunspor footballers Erzurumspor F.K. footballers Boluspor footballers Ankara Keçiörengücü S.K. footballers Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Süper Lig players TFF 1. Lig players 21st-century Turkish sportsmen {{Turkey-footy-defender-stub