Former Germany under-21 international Deniz Naki has told tagesschau.de he is not thinking about "running away" from his trial in Turkey after being charged with terrorist propaganda.
Naki, a Kurd currently playing for Turkish third-tier outfit Amed SK, has been charged with terrorist propaganda on social networks on seven counts following investigations by the Kurdish city of Diyarbakir's chief public prosecutor.
The 27-year-old attacker faces between one and five years in prison if found guilty at his trial, which is scheduled to begin on Nov. 8.
"Many friends in Germany advise me to come back, but I don't even think about running away," he said. "I did nothing wrong. I just want peace, no matter which nationality or religion people have."
Naki confirmed that he took responsibility for all seven social media posts, which included a picture of a father sitting with two dead children that was purportedly taken in the Kurdish town of Cizre but later revealed to be an incident in Palestine in 2009.
"Civilians were also murdered by the military in Cizre," Naki said. "Would it have been any better if I had posted pictures of corpses from Cizre? Women and children were among the dead. Posting those pictures would have been even worse."
The former St. Pauli player said he is not concerned about his plight, explaining: "I know that I am in the right, and thus I don't have any fear, although many people have already been imprisoned for alleged terrorist propaganda -- or even died.
"I am aware of it. But if I run away, it could be turned into a signal that I did something wrong."
On Thursday, Hamburg-based St. Pauli played a friendly against Werder Bremen, with the players expressing their solidarity by wearing Naki shirts and his old number on the back during the warmup.
Solidarität! #fcsp #fcspsvw #naki pic.twitter.com/XGkhsEpm9k
- FC St. Pauli (@fcstpauli) October 6, 2016
All but two players, both from Turkey, had Naki next to their first name on the official lineup.
"The fans, the neighbourhood, the city, it all still means a lot to me," Naki, who joined the club as a 19-year-old, said. "This club is unique. That a lot of people connected to St. Pauli are with me with their hearts gives me strength. I can only thank them."