My win will be for Erdoğan, our soldiers: Turkish boxer

A Turkish immigrant boxer said Wednesday he will dedicate his next fight in Germany to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Turkish soldiers fighting terrorism in northwestern Syria.

"I would like to see our flag and anthem honored in the boxing ring," Şükrü Altay, 33, told Anadolu Agency ahead of a major boxing event, Fightarena 4, next month in the western city of Heilbronn.

Altay said if he wins the tournament, he will present his championship belt to Erdoğan and the soldiers taking part in Operation Olive Branch in northwestern Syria.

Turkish troops cleared terrorist PYD/PKK groups from Afrin, northwestern Syria in a major counterterrorism operation that began on Jan. 20.

Altay voiced his support for the operation and called for unity among Turks and Kurds in Germany.

"Turks and Kurds, we are a united community here. We should maintain our unity," he said, stressing close ties between Turkish and Kurdish immigrant families in the country.

"My wife is also Kurdish," he stressed.

Germany has a three million-strong Turkish community, many of whom are second and third-generation German-born citizens whose grandparents moved to the country during the 1960s.