Mohamed Salah family link to Turkey remains unproven as researcher reopens ancestry debate

A Turkish newspaper report has revived speculation about Mohamed Salah’s family origins by proposing a possible connection between the Egypt international’s family and the historic Turkish Eksioglu family from the Trabzon region of north-eastern Turkey.

The claim is based on research by Ali Galip Yucel, a lecturer in the physical education department at Amasya University. His work, published by Turkish newspaper Taka and subsequently reported by Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar, traces branches of the Eksioglu family which are believed to have moved from Anatolia to other parts of the Ottoman Empire, including Egypt.

The research suggests that one of those branches could provide a possible link to Salah’s family. However, the proposed connection remains a theory and has not been established through conclusive historical evidence.

A possible Ottoman connection

According to Yucel’s account, the Eksioglu family had longstanding links with several parts of Anatolia during the Ottoman period. Over time, its branches spread across different regions, with some members settling in areas including Ordu and Rize.

The research argues that another branch may have travelled to Egypt. Yucel is attempting to determine whether that movement could represent the missing connection between the Turkish family associated with Trabzon and the family of Salah in Egypt.

The investigation refers to the Ottoman figure Eksi Ali Pasha, who is said to have been close to Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror. His name later became associated with an area in the Dernekpazarı district of Trabzon Province, where he was buried.

The study claims that Eksi Ali Pasha’s descendants subsequently dispersed across Anatolia and other parts of the Ottoman Empire. While some branches are believed to have remained in Ordu and Rize, another is said to have moved towards Egypt.

Evidence still missing

Yucel’s research attempts to follow the movements of those family branches by examining historical references, names and records linked to the Ottoman era.

One of the names included in the account is Eksizade Bendullah, described by the research as a religious figure associated with the Sufi Sheikh Khalid al-Naqshbandi. The report also points to the alleged movement of a branch of the Eksioglu family to Egypt.

Despite those details, there is currently no verified proof that Salah has Turkish ancestry. The report does not present original archival documents or a continuous, authenticated family tree directly connecting the Eksioglu family in Trabzon with Salah’s family in Egypt.

Similar surnames, or evidence that branches of a family existed in different parts of the Ottoman Empire, are not by themselves enough to confirm a blood relationship. The proposed link therefore requires further documentation and independent examination before it can be regarded as an established historical fact.

Yucel is expected to continue investigating the family’s history, with particular attention on branches believed to have left Anatolia for Egypt. His aim is to locate clearer records that could determine whether a genuine relationship exists.

For now, the suggestion that Mohamed Salah’s family has Turkish roots remains an unproven research hypothesis rather than a confirmed part of the Liverpool forward’s biography.