Prosecutors have launched an investigation into the incident on suspicion of attempted homicide. Naki currently plays for Amed SK, a club in Turkey's majority-Kurdish southeast.
The player, who is visiting his family in Germany, told German daily Die Welt that he believes he was targeted because of his political role in Turkey.
Naki was given an 18-month suspended sentence last year in Turkey on accusations of terrorist propaganda for the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, Die Welt reported.
He told Die Welt newspaper he assumed the shots were fired by a Turkish agent or someone else who opposed his views.
'I could have died,' Naki told the newspaper. 'It was so close. I was scared to death.' He said the shots were fired from a black station wagon that was diagonally behind him, and two bullets struck his car.
Naki, who said he frequently received menacing messages on social media, vowed not to let the shooting incident stop him from speaking out against the Turkish government. He said he had not received any specific threats in recent weeks. Naki, a former national youth soccer player for Germany, now plays for a Kurdish team in Turkey.
Katja Schlenkermann-Pitts, a senior prosecutor in Aachen, said authorities were investigating the incident as an attempted homicide, but said her office could not confirm Naki's concerns. She said prosecutors were looking 'in all directions.'
The Interior Ministry had no information on the case, spokesman Johannes Dimroth told a regular government news conference. He said he had no doubt that Naki's statements would be addressed by prosecutors as part of the investigation.
The incident occurred around 11pm on the A4 highway near the town of Dueren, where Naki grew up, as he was returning home after visiting a friend.
It comes as the German and Turkish foreign ministers are trying to improve difficult relations following Ankara's crackdown after an abortive coup attempt in 2016 and the arrests of German citizens in Turkey.
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