France has called for Turkey to be punished after several Turkish international football players celebrated a goal with a military-style salute during a match in Paris.

It is the second time in three days Turkish internationals celebrated a goal in EURO 2020 qualifiers with a salute - a reference to the Turkish military's ongoing conflict with the Kurds in northern Syria.

UEFA, which prohibits any political gestures during internationals, said on Friday night that it would investigate after several Turkey players celebrated Cenk Tosun's last-minute goal against Albania with a military salute.

Despite this, several Turkey stars repeated the act last night after defender Kaan Ayhan notched a late equaliser against France.

In a post on Instagram, Tosun wrote that the salute was "for our nation, especially for the ones who are risking their lives for our nation."


The official Twitter page for the Turkish team also posted a photo of the side all giving the salute after the match.

Ay-Yıldızlılar, galibiyeti kahraman Mehmetçiklerimizle şehit olan askerlerimiz ve vatandaşlarımıza armağan etti. 🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/NNZKlnnWga — Milli Takımlar (@MilliTakimlar) October 11, 2019

UEFA told Sky News that it is waiting for official reports regarding the incidents and would be providing no other information or comment.

Merci à la @FFF et aux forces de l’ordre pour leur travail afin d’assurer le bon déroulement du match. Les joueurs turcs ont gâché ces efforts en réalisant un salut militaire, contraire à l’esprit sportif. Je demande à @UEFAcom_fr une sanction exemplaire. — Roxana Maracineanu (@RoxaMaracineanu) October 14, 2019

The salutes made headlines in France, where many had called for last night's international fixture to be cancelled after Turkey's game against Albania on Friday.

France's sports minister Roxana Maracineanu thanked French police on Twitter, but condemned Turkish players, saying their actions were "contrary to sportsmanship"

Si les footballeurs turcs font des saluts militaires, ils doivent s'attendre à être traités comme les militaires d'une armée ennemie. On ne joue donc pas au foot contre eux. La base de l'esprit sportif n'est plus là ! #AnnulationMatchFranceTurquie — Jean-Luc Mélenchon (@JLMelenchon) October 14, 2019

Earlier this week, Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Front party, tweeted: "Being the platform of #Erdogan's propaganda, whose actions in #Syria worry the international community, the Turkish football team has flouted the values of sport.

"It is time for UEFA to sanction this political drift of the Turkish Football Federation!"

The leader of the left-wing populist party Insoumise, Jean-Luc Melenchon, also tweeted, saying that the players must "expect to be treated as soldiers of an enemy army" after their actions.

:: Listen to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker