A Turkish secondary school student living in France was punished by school authorities after he made a military salute to show respect for the fallen Turkish soldiers participating in Operation Peace Spring in northeastern Syria.
Eren Ertuğrul from the French town Saint-Usage won a trophy in a track and field contest held at the school but his award was taken back by the school principal as a punishment for the 14-year-old student’s gesture to show respect to Turkish soldiers who lost their lives during Turkey’s counterterrorism operation.
The student’s father Ali Ertuğrul told Anadolu Agency that the principle took the trophy from his son's hands, claiming that the military salute was a provocation to the French and that such a thing should not be done at school.
“My son told the principal that he was greeting the soldiers for respect,” the father noted.
The parents of the Turkish student visited the school principal and said that their son’s behavior should not be considered as a crime, arguing that the French national player Antoine Griezmann had also made the same salute.
In July 2018, French star Griezmann made a military salute in front of French President Emmanuel Macron in Moscow, during a ceremony at the 2018 FIFA World Cup final when France beat Croatia.
“The response to a 14-year-old child should not be like this,” the father added.