Emin Boztepe - Early Life

Early Life

Boztepe was born in Eskişehir, Turkey, the second of six children. At the age of four, his family, originally from Bağlıca village of Emirdağ, moved to Germany. According to Boztepe, his early days in Germany were difficult due to his Turkish heritage—he was a constant target for racial insults and, more often than not, verbal abuse would escalate into physical abuse. Martial arts became something of a necessity and his father urged him to begin training. Boztepe recalled, "Germany was not the healthiest place for a young Turk in those days of growing racism and neo-Nazi movements." He claimed to have been in over 300 street fights, many of them a result of this period, though he also claimed to have not started any of these fights.