Late on Sunday night, two bullets hit the left side of Deniz Naki’s car while he was driving in A4 autobahn near Düren. Naki survived the attack without injuries. According to Naki, shots were fired from a moving car.

German Press Agency (DPA) reported that the public prosecutor's office in Aachen is aware of the incident and opened an investigation for attempted homicide offense.

"I just saw a black station wagon next to me. One shot was just above the left rear tire, another between two windows of the car on the left side,” Deniz Naki said.

In an interview with Bento magazine, Naki said, “I think this is a political thing. I am a target in Turkey because I am pro – Kurdish. The attack shows me that I am not safe anywhere. I suspect that the shooter was either an agent of the Turkish government or a right-wing Turk".

Deniz Naki is currently playing for Amedspor and is a former FC St. Pauli player. The 28-year-old is considered a critic of the Turkish government.

Cansu Ozdemir, an MP from the Left Party, reacted to the shooting and said, “The assassination attempt on Deniz Naki makes it clear that Turkish oppositionists in Germany are not safe. I fear that Erdoğan's murder squads will continue to chase oppositionists until someone dies.

In recent months, there have been repeated reports of alleged death lists on which contained names of opponents of the Turkish government. Recently, HDP MP Garo Paylan, reported on such a list.