Öztürk's transfer cancelled after he voices concern over Uighurs

Transfer offers coming from Chinese League teams for Alpaslan Öztürk were cancelled when he told the teams that he wanted to donate 10 percent of his salary to Muslims and Turkish people in East Turkestan. Belgium-born Turkish footballer Alpaslan Öztürk, who played for Kasımpaşa last season, talked about why he rejected the offers of Chinese teams. "It is not right for me to breath in a country that skins our Muslim brothers alive. I thought so and I decided so. We see it on the television and in newspapers every day. Uighur Turks are being slaughtered since they are fasting," said Öztürk.

Announcing on his social media account that Chinese clubs cancelled their transfer offers after he said he would donate 10 percent of the money he would receive to Muslims and Turkish people in East Turkestan, Öztürk told AA that he had not planned for the situation to become so big. Emphasizing that he didn't share this message with the intention of creating polemic, Öztürk said that "I said what I said. It is not a message bearing the intention of showing off. I just posted a message on my Facebook profile to my friends who follow and love me. I never thought this would come to this point. I said what I said and it was obvious."

Öztürk also pointed out that "I condemn a country that slaughters people for being Muslims and fasting. I wasn't thinking of going to China when I received offers. Since I wasn't willing to live there, I laid down these conditions and thus the transfer was cancelled."Stating that he doesn't know in which country and with which team he is going to play next season, Öztürk said that "Only God knows about my transfer and which team I will play for." Having worn the national team jersey 15 times in different categories in the past, Öztürk shared the following message on his personal Facebook profile that "I received two offers from the Chinese League. These teams offer to pay much more annual salary than that I receive from Turkey and Belgium. While negotiating with the clubs, I said I would like to donate 10 percent of my annual salary to our cognates in East Turkestan. When the club managers heard this, they were surprised and backed down from the transfer. So be it. They can give up. I can earn money everywhere but people in East Turkestan cannot find food to eat. May God help them."