Under criticized for a tweet perceived as a support for the Turkish offensive in Syria

The Kurdish conflict is impacting AS Roma. A controversy was born in Italy, following a tweet from Cengiz Ünder. Friday mid-day, the young international midfielder (22 years, 19 selections) has issued three flags of his country to accompany a photo of him saluting as he wears the jersey of the Italian club during a match .

No further details have been given to this unclear message, but it comes two days after the launch of a Turkish army offensive against the Kurds in northeastern Syria. This military operation, dubbed "Source of Peace", has been the subject of many condemnations from Western countries, including Italy. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte deplored the fact that this maneuver endangers civilians and the stability of the region.

The silent AS Roma

Cengiz Ünder's tweet was thus seen as a support for the Turkish army commanded by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. If this publication has collected more than 93,000 likes and 7,000 retweets, it has also been the subject of a huge number of disapproving and pro-Kurdish comments among the 2,100 responses addressed to the footballer.

The negative opinions also come from supporters of AS Roma, unhappy to see their jersey be associated with this attack against the Kurdish people, as reported by the daily newspaper La Repubblica.

AS Roma has not officially responded to the media outlet of his player. Any position is expected to be delicate, especially as the team must move to Istanbul to face Basaksehir on November 28 for the fifth day of the Europa League.

Several Turkish footballers support the army

Cengiz Ünder is not the first footballer based in Italy to publish a tweet of this kind. Merih Demiral of Juventus posted the day before a photo showing a Turkish soldier in action on the Syrian border. He accompanied it with the hashtag #OperationPeaceSpring.

In Germany, FC Sankt Pauli officially disassociated itself from a message from his player Cenk Sahin who had voted in favor of the Turkish offensive. In the release, the club wrote: "We are distancing ourselves from the post and its content because it is incompatible with the values ​​of the club".

The former Franco-Senegalese footballer Jacques Faty has also publicly supported the Turkish intervention.