Continuing political turmoil in Turkey has prompted German national player Mario Gomez to leave Istanbul-based team Besiktas, the footballer announced on his Facebook page Wednesday, dpa reported.
"It was a difficult decision that I had to think about a lot," he wrote.
"The reason for this is completely down to the political situation! There are no sporting or any other reasons that have made me make this decision. It is purely down to the terrible events that happened in the last few days." Turkey suffered an attempted coup Friday that was quickly repulsed.
Gomez has been the Turkish league's top scorer since he joined Besiktas in July on loan, helping the team to win the Turkish league championship this year.
He was also one of the stars of the German national team at the Euro 2016 tournament this year, though he had to withdraw from the team's final games with injuries.
