The Grey Wolves ( tr, Bozkurtlar), officially known by the short name Idealist Hearths ( tr, Ülkü Ocakları, ), is a Turkish

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

paramilitary organization and political movement affiliated with the

Nationalist Movement Party The Nationalist Movement Party (alternatively translated as Nationalist Action Party; tr, Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi, MHP) is a Turkish far-right and ultranationalist political party. The group is often described as neo-fascist, and has been ...

(MHP). Commonly described as

ultra-nationalist Ultranationalism or extreme nationalism is an extreme form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains detrimental hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its sp ...

neo-fascist Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia, and anti-immigration sent ...

, and Islamonationalist, it is a youth organization that has been characterized as the MHP's

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin " ...

wing. Its members deny its political nature and claim it to be a cultural and educational foundation, as per its full official name: Ülkü Ocakları Eğitim ve Kültür Vakfı ("Idealist Clubs Educational and Cultural Foundation"). Established by Colonel

Alparslan Türkeş Alparslan Türkeş (; 25 November 1917 – 4 April 1997) was a Turkish politician, who was the founder and president of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Grey Wolves ''(Ülkü Ocakları)''. He represented the far-right of the Turkish ...

in the late 1960s, it rose to prominence during the late 1970s political violence in Turkey when its members engaged in urban guerrilla warfare with left-wing militants and activists. Scholars have described it as a

death squad A death squad is an armed group whose primary activity is carrying out extrajudicial killings or forced disappearances as part of political repression, genocide, ethnic cleansing, or revolutionary terror. Except in rare cases in which they are ...

, responsible for most of the violence and killings in this period. Their most notorious attack, which killed over 100

Alevis Alevism or Anatolian Alevism (; tr, Alevilik, ''Anadolu Aleviliği'' or ''Kızılbaşlık''; ; az, Ələvilik) is a local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Alevi Islamic ( ''bāṭenī'') teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, wh ...

, took place in Maraş in December 1978. They are also alleged to have been behind the Taksim Square massacre in May 1977 and to have played a role in the

Kurdish–Turkish conflict Kurdish nationalism, Kurdish nationalist uprisings have periodically occurred in Turkey, beginning with the Turkish War of Independence and the consequent transition from the Ottoman Empire to the modern Turkish state and continuing to the prese ...

from 1978 onwards. The masterminds behind the

attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II On 13 May 1981, in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, Pope John Paul II was shot and wounded by Mehmet Ali Ağca while he was entering the square. The Pope was struck twice and suffered severe blood loss. Ağca was apprehended immediately and ...

in 1981 by Grey Wolves member Mehmet Ali Ağca were not identified and the organization's role remains unclear. Due to these attacks, the Grey Wolves have been described by some scholars, journalists, and governments as a

terrorist organization A number of national governments and two international organizations have created lists of organizations that they designate as terrorist. The following list of designated terrorist groups lists groups designated as terrorist by current and fo ...

. The organization has long been a prominent suspect in investigations into the

deep state in Turkey In Turkey, the deep state ( tr, derin devlet) is an alleged group of influential anti-democratic coalitions inside the Turkish political structure, composed of high-level elements within the intelligence services (domestic and foreign), the Tur ...

, and is suspected of having had close dealings in the past with the Counter-Guerrilla, the Turkish branch of the NATO

Operation Gladio Operation Gladio is the codename for clandestine "stay-behind" operations of armed resistance that were organized by the Western Union (alliance), Western Union (WU), and subsequently by NATO and the CIA, in collaboration with several European Int ...

, as well as the Turkish mafia. Among the Grey Wolves' prime targets are non-Turkish ethnic minorities such as

Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ir ...

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

, and

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...

. A staunchly

Pan-Turkist Pan-Turkism is a political movement that emerged during the 1880s among Turkic intellectuals who lived in the Russian region of Kazan (Tatarstan), Caucasus (modern-day Azerbaijan) and the Ottoman Empire (modern-day Turkey), with its aim bei ...

organization, in the early 1990s the Grey Wolves extended their area of operation into the

post-Soviet states The post-Soviet states, also known as the former Soviet Union (FSU), the former Soviet Republics and in Russia as the near abroad (russian: links=no, ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye), are the 15 sovereign states that wer ...

with Turkic and Muslim populations. Up to thousands of its members fought in the

First Nagorno-Karabakh War The First Nagorno-Karabakh War, referred to in Armenia as the Artsakh Liberation War ( hy, Արցախյան ազատամարտ, Artsakhyan azatamart) was an ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in th ...

on the Azerbaijani side, and the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

Second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

Chechen–Russian Wars on the Chechen side. After an unsuccessful attempt to seize power in Azerbaijan in 1995, they were banned in that country. In 2005, Kazakhstan also banned the organization, classifying it as a terrorist group. Under Devlet Bahçeli, who assumed the leadership of the MHP and Grey Wolves after Türkeş's death in 1997, the organization has been reformed. According to a 2021 poll, the Grey Wolves are supported by 3.2% of the Turkish electorate. Its members are often involved in attacks and clashes with Kurdish and leftist activists. The organization is also active in the Turkish-occupied portion of Cyprus and has affiliated branches in several

Western European countries Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

with significant Turkish communities, such as Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. They are the largest right-wing extremist organization in Germany. The Grey Wolves were banned in France in November 2020 for

hate speech Hate speech is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation". Hate speech is "usually thoug ...

and

political violence Political violence is violence which is perpetrated in order to achieve political goals. It can include violence which is used by a state against other states (war), violence which is used by a state against civilians and non-state actors (forced ...

, and calls for similar actions are made elsewhere. In May 2021, the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

also called on member states of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

to designate it as a

terrorist group A number of national governments and two international organizations have created lists of organizations that they designate as terrorist. The following list of designated terrorist groups lists groups designated as terrorist by current and fo ...

Name and symbolism

The organization's members are known as ''Ülkücüler'', which literally means "idealists". Its informal name is inspired by the ancient legend of Asena, a she-wolf in the Ergenekon, a

Tengrist Tengrism (also known as Tengriism, Tengerism, or Tengrianism) is an ethnic and old state Turko- Mongolic religion originating in the Eurasian steppes, based on folk shamanism, animism and generally centered around the titular sky god Tengri. ...

ancient myth associated with Turkic ethnic origins in the

Central Asian steppes The Eurasian Steppe, also simply called the Great Steppe or the steppes, is the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia in the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome. It stretches through Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Transnistri ...

. In Turkey, the wolf also symbolizes honor. The Grey Wolves have a "strong emphasis on leadership and hierarchical, military-like organisation." The Grey Wolves also use what scholar Ahmet İnsel describes as "fascist slogans imported from America", such as "Love it or leave it" (''Ya Sev Ya Terk Et!'') and "Communists to Moscow" (''Komünistler Moskova'ya''). The salutation of the Grey Wolves is "a fist with the little finger and index finger raised" Turkic hand gesture. It was banned in Austria in February 2019. In Germany, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Left Party proposed banning the salute in October 2018, calling it fascist.

Ideology

The Grey Wolves adhere to an extreme form of

Turkish nationalism Turkish nationalism ( tr, Türk milliyetçiliği) is a political ideology that promotes and glorifies the Turkish people, as either a Turkey#Demographics, national, Turkish people, ethnic, or Turkish language, linguistic group. The term "ultrana ...

. It has been characterized as an

and

paramilitary organization by political scholars, the mainstream media, and left-wing sources.

R. W. Apple Jr. Raymond Walter Apple Jr. (November 20, 1934 – October 4, 2006), known as Johnny Apple but bylined as R.W. Apple Jr., was a correspondent and associate editor at ''The New York Times'', where he wrote on a variety of subjects, most notably polit ...

, writing in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' in 1981, described MHP and its satellite groups as a "xenophobic, fanatically nationalist, neofascist network steeped in violence." The organization's ideology emphasizes the early history of the Turkic peoples in

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

and blends it with

Islamic culture Islamic culture and Muslim culture refer to cultural practices which are common to historically Islamic people. The early forms of Muslim culture, from the Rashidun Caliphate to the early Umayyad period and the early Abbasid period, were predomi ...

and beliefs; their synthesis of Turkish identity, political ideology, and Islamic beliefs is referred to as " Turkish Islamonationalism", and is widely prevalent in their rhetoric and activities. One of their mottos is "Your doctor will be a Turk and your medicine will be Islam." Other sources have described it as secular. Their ideology is based on a "superiority" of the Turkish "race" and the Turkish nation. According to Peters, they strive for an "ideal" Turkish nation, which they define as "Sunni-Islamic and

mono-ethnic Monoethnicity is the existence of a single ethnic group in a given region or country. It is the opposite of polyethnicity. An example of a largely monoethnic country is Japan. It is a common belief in Japan that the entire country is monoethnic, ...

: only inhabited by 'true' Turks." A Turk is defined as someone who lives in the Turkish territory, feels Turkish and calls themselves Turkish. In their ideology and activities, they are hostile to virtually all non-Turkish or non-Sunni elements within Turkey, including

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, and

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. They embrace

anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

conspiracy theories such as those put forward by '' The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'', and have distributed the Turkish translation of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

's ''

Mein Kampf (; ''My Struggle'' or ''My Battle'') is a 1925 autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germ ...

''.

The Grey Wolves are

and seek to unite the Turkic peoples in one state stretching from the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

to Central Asia. After the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

in 1991, the Grey Wolves called for "a revived Turkish empire embracing newly independent Central Asian states of the former Soviet Union." They have proposed "a pan-Turkish extension of the Turkish nation-state." Due to their pan-Turkic agenda they are hostile towards China,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. The Grey Wolves are staunchly

anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

and have a history of violence toward leftists.

Base

According to sociologist , the Grey Wolves—"the militant youth wing of the Turkish ethnic nationalists that are dissatisfied with the inertia of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) camp"—are supported by 3.6% of the Turkish electorate as of 2014. A 2021 poll by Kadir Has University found that a similar percentage, 3.2% of respondents identify as ''Ülkücü'', or supporters of the Grey Wolves. According to analyst Ankarali Jan, the Grey Wolves have a largely unofficial presence in Turkey's major universities, but their "real power is on the streets, among disaffected poor people in predominantly Turkish Sunni neighbourhoods." Norm Dixon wrote in the '' Green Left Weekly'' in 1999 that the MHP and Grey Wolves "retain strong support within the military." In 2018, Tom Stevenson described it as a "street movement."

Links to the Turkish government and NATO

In the late 1970s, former military prosecutor and Turkish Supreme Court Justice Emin Değer documented collaboration between the Grey Wolves, the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

(CIA), and Counter-Guerrilla, the Turkish stay-behind

organization organised under

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

, a plan for

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...

in case of a

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

takeover. Martin Lee writes that the Counter-Guerrilla supplied weapons to the Grey Wolves, while according to Tim Jacoby, the CIA transferred guns and explosives to Grey Wolves units through an agent in the 1970s. During the 1996 Susurluk scandal, the Grey Wolves were accused of being members of the Counter-Guerrilla.

Abdullah Çatlı Abdullah Çatlı (1 June 1956 – 3 November 1996) was a Turkish secret government agent, as well as a contract killer for the National Intelligence Organization (MİT). He led the Grey Wolves, the youth branch of the Nationalist Movement Party ...

, second-in-command of the Grey Wolves leadership, was killed during the

Susurluk car crash The Susurluk car crash took place on 3 November 1996 in the small town of Susurluk, in Turkey's Balıkesir Province. It resulted in the death of three of the passengers: Abdullah Çatlı, a former ultra-rightist militant wanted by police for mult ...

, which sparked the scandal. The April 1997 report of the

Turkish National Assembly The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, ), usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament ( tr, or ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Consti ...

's investigative committee "offered considerable evidence of close ties between state authorities and criminal gangs, including the use of the Grey Wolves to carry out illegal activities." In the 2008 the

Ergenekon trials The Ergenekon trials were a series of high-profile trials which took place on 2008–2016 in Turkey in which 275 people, including military officers, journalists and opposition lawmakers, all alleged members of Ergenekon, a suspected secularist ...

, a court document revealed that the

National Intelligence Organization The National Intelligence Organization ( tr, Millî İstihbarat Teşkilatı, MİT) is the state intelligence agency of Turkey. Established in 1965 to replace National Security Service, its aim is to gather information about the current and po ...

(MİT) armed and funded Grey Wolves members to carry out political murders. They mostly targeted members of the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), which attacked Turkish embassies abroad in retaliation for the Turkish state's continued

denial of the Armenian genocide Armenian genocide denial is the claim that the Ottoman Empire and its ruling party, the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), did not commit genocide against its Armenian citizens during World War I—a crime documented in a large body of ...

. The Turkish intelligence services also made use of the Grey Wolves in the

, by offering them amnesty for their crimes in exchange. In 2018, the AK Party formed an alliance with the MHP which succeeded in re-electing President Erdoğan. Concerns around the close connections between the Turkish government and the Grey Wolves caused the EU Foreign Affairs Committee to recommend that the Grey Wolves be banned in the EU.

History

According to

Ruben Safrastyan Ruben Safrastyan (; born 5 October 1955), is a professor, director of the Institute of Oriental Studies, full member of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences, and professor of history and Turkish studies at the Yerevan State University. He has ...

, because the Grey Wolves are subtle and often formally operate as cultural and sports organizations, information about them is scarce.

Early history

The Grey Wolves organization was formed by Colonel

in the late 1960s as the paramilitary wing of the

(MHP). In 1968, over a hundred camps for ideological and paramilitary training were founded by Türkeş across Turkey. Canefe and Bora describe it as a

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

fascist network, which had an active role in the economy, education, and neighborhoods. Nasuh Uslu characterized it as a well-disciplined paramilitary organization, while Joshua D. Hendrick compared its organization to the Nazi ''

Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe d ...

'' (SS). Young male students and economic migrants from rural areas who have settled in Istanbul and Ankara made up the majority of its members. In 1973 Israeli orientalist Jacob M. Landau wrote that the importance of the Grey Wolves "is attested to by the fact that Türkeş himself assumed responsibility for the formation of these youth groups and assigned the supervision of their training to two of his close associates".

1970s violence and 1980 coup

By the late 1970s the organizations had tens of thousands of members, and according to

Amberin Zaman Amberin Zaman is a Turkish journalist and a senior correspondent for Al-Monitor. Having started as a journalist in Turkey, Zaman contributes to various newspapers throughout the world. Her writing is centered on minority rights issues in Turkey. L ...

, the Turkish authorities had lost control over it. During the political violence between 1976 and 1980, members of the Grey Wolves were involved in numerous assassinations of left-wing and liberal activists, intellectuals, labor organizers,

, officials, and journalists. The organization became a

engaged in " street killings and gunbattles". According to authorities, 220 of its members carried out 694 murders of left-wing and liberal activists and intellectuals. In total, some 5,000 to 6,000 people were killed in the violence, with the Grey Wolves responsible for most of the killings. Their most significant attack of this period was the Maraş massacre in December 1978, when over 100 Alevis were killed. They are also accused of being behind the Taksim Square massacre on May 1, 1977. The Grey Wolves became a "state-approved force" and used attacks on left-wing groups to "cause chaos and demoralization and inflame a climate in which a regime promising law and order would be welcomed by the masses." During this violent period, Grey Wolves operated with the encouragement and the protection of the Turkish Army's Special Warfare Department. The conflict between left-wing and right-wing groups eventually resulted in a military intervention in September 1980 when General

Kenan Evren Ahmet Kenan Evren (; 17 July 1917 – 9 May 2015) was a Turkish politician and military officer, who served as the seventh President of Turkey from 1980 to 1989. He assumed the post by leading the 1980 military coup. On 18 June 2014, a Turkish ...

led a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

. According to

Daniele Ganser Daniele Ganser (born 29 August 1972, in Lugano) is a Swiss author and conspiracy theorist. He is best known for his 2005 book ''NATO's Secret Armies'', an adaption of his 2001 dissertation. Background His father Gottfried Ganser-Bosshart (1922� ...

, at the time of the coup, there were some 1,700 Grey Wolves branches, with about 200,000 registered members and a million sympathizers. Following the 1980 coup, the Grey Wolves and MHP were banned and their activity was diminished. Turkish nationalists and others assert that the Grey Wolves were "used and then discarded" by the

Post-1980

After the 1980 coup, the Grey Wolves reorganized. They began to direct their efforts against

Kurds in Turkey The Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Turkey. According to various estimates, they compose between 15% and 20% of the population of Turkey.; ; Sandra Mackey , “The reckoning: Iraq and the legacy of Saddam”, W.W. Norton and Company, ...

, as well as lobbying for aggressive

and support of the

Turkish occupation of Cyprus Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. Recog ...

Anti-Kurdish violence and activism

=1990s

= In the 1990s, the Grey Wolves turned their focus on the

and participated in the

Turkish Kurdistan Turkish Kurdistan or Northern Kurdistan () refers to the southeastern part of Turkey, where Kurds form the predominant ethnic group. The Kurdish Institute of Paris estimates that there are 20 million Kurds living in Turkey, the majority of the ...

. In 1999, ''

Hürriyet Daily News The ''Hürriyet Daily News'', formerly ''Hürriyet Daily News and Economic Review'' and ''Turkish Daily News'', is the oldest current English-language daily in Turkey, founded in 1961. The paper was bought by the Doğan Media Group in 2001 and ...

'' described the organization as "the staunchest opponent to the Kurdish cause in Turkey." In May 1998, the Grey Wolves were involved in two murders. On May 3, a group of Grey Wolves attacked two students in

Bolu Bolu is a city in Turkey, and administrative center of the Bolu Province. The population is 131,264 (2012 census). The city has been governed by mayor Tanju Özcan ( CHP) since local elections in 2019. It was the site of Ancient Claudiopolis a ...

who were passing by the organization's building. Kenan Mak, one of the students, was killed. On May 5, a worker named Bilal Vural was killed in Istanbul's Şişli district, allegedly by the Grey Wolves. His family claimed that he was "brought several times to the Ülkü Ocakları building where ultranationalists forced him to become a member." They said that he was killed because he was a member of the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party (HADEP). As a result of these murders,

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party ( tr, Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, , acronymized as CHP ) is a Kemalist and social-democratic political party in Turkey which currently stands as the main opposition party. It is also the oldest political party ...

(CHP) Deputy Chairman Sinan Yerlikaya and the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP) requested that the Grey Wolves be banned by the authorities. During the 1999 general election, the Grey Wolves attacked members of the HADEP, allegedly with impunity.

=2000s

= In August 2002, the Grey Wolves burnt

Masoud Barzani Masoud Barzani ( ku, ,مه‌سعوود بارزانی, translit=Mesûd Barzanî}; born 16 August 1946) is a Kurdish politician who has been leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) since 1979, and was President of the Kurdistan Region o ...

's effigy in a protest in Ankara after he claimed the partly

Turkmen Turkmen, Türkmen, Turkoman, or Turkman may refer to: Peoples Historical ethnonym * Turkoman (ethnonym), ethnonym used for the Oghuz Turks during the Middle Ages Ethnic groups * Turkmen in Anatolia and the Levant (Seljuk and Ottoman-Turkish desc ...

-inhabited Iraqi governorates of

Kirkuk Kirkuk ( ar, كركوك, ku, کەرکووک, translit=Kerkûk, , tr, Kerkük) is a city in Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate, located north of Baghdad. The city is home to a diverse population of Turkmens, Arabs, Kurds, ...

and

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...

as part of Iraqi Kurdistan.

=2010s

= On November 9, 2010, Hasan Şimşek, a Grey Wolves member and a student, was killed at the

Kütahya Dumlupınar University Kütahya Dumlupınar University is a public university in Kütahya, Turkey. The university began to operate as a new institution under the name of Kütahya Dumlupınar University on 3 July 1992, with the force of governmental decree numbered ...

during an apparent fight between

Kurdish nationalist Kurdish nationalism (, ) is a nationalist political movement which asserts that Kurds are a nation and espouses the creation of an independent Kurdistan from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. Early Kurdish nationalism had its roots in the Ottoman ...

and Turkish nationalist student groups. At his funeral, MHP leader Bahçeli stated that "We expect every kind of measure to be taken to prevent the expansion of the PKK mob, who have a tendency to grow in the universities." Violence between Turkish and Kurdish students also broke out in Marmara University in Istanbul on November 12. In September 2011, the Ankara Police Department raided 40 locations across Ankara belonging to the Grey Wolves. They took 36 people into custody and seized numerous guns and knives. According to police, the Grey Wolves were planning an attack on the pro-Kurdish Democratic Regions Party (BDP). In October 2013, the Grey Wolves demonstrated across Turkey against the Kurdish–Turkish peace process. In October 2014, the Grey Wolves were involved in deadly clashes during the

2014 Kurdish riots in Turkey Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrel ...

against the government's perceived

collaboration with ISIL Collaboration with the Islamic State refers to the cooperation and assistance given by governments, non-state actors, and private individuals to the Islamic State (IS) during the Syrian Civil War, Iraqi Civil War, and Libyan Civil War. Allegatio ...

during the

Siege of Kobanî The siege of Kobanî was launched by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on 13 September 2014, in order to capture the Kobanî Canton and its main city of Kobanî (also known as Kobanê or Ayn al-Arab) in northern Syria, in the ''de facto'' ...

. A group of Grey Wolves in

Sancaktepe Sancaktepe is a district in the suburbs of Istanbul, Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located ma ...

, Istanbul, attempted to lynch a young man. On February 20, 2015, Fırat Yılmaz Çakıroğlu, leader of the Grey Wolves organisation in

Ege University Ege University or Aegean University ( tr, Ege Üniversitesi) is a public research university in Bornova, İzmir. It was founded in 1955 with the faculties of Medicine and Agriculture. It is the first university to start courses in İzmir and the ...

, was stabbed to death by left-wing and according to some reports, Kurdish nationalist students. On September 7–8, 2015, Turkish nationalists, including Grey Wolves members, attacked 128 offices of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) across Turkey in an apparent retaliation for anti-government attacks by the

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of south ...

(PKK). Some have alleged that some of the attacks were carried out by AKP members "masquerading as Grey Wolves" or that the Grey Wolves cooperated with AKP members in attacks on HDP offices and left-wingers suspected of sympathy for the Kurds.

Greece-related violence and activism

On June 18, 1988

Kartal Demirağ Kartal Demirağ is a Turkish assassin who tried to assassinate then Turkish Prime Minister Turgut Özal on June 18, 1988. Özal was wounded by one bullet but suffered no serious injuries. Demirağ was captured and sentenced to life imprisonment. A ...

, a senior member of the Grey Wolves, attempted to assassinate Prime Minister Turgut Özal's at the Motherland Party congress. Özal linked it to his visit to Greece three days earlier, saying that the attempt was carried out "by a group opposed to his efforts to improve relations with Greece." On September 6, 2005, a group of nationalists, led by Grey Wolves leader Levent Temiz, stormed into an Istanbul exhibition commemorating the anti-Greek pogrom of 1955. They threw eggs and tore down photos. The Grey Wolves issued a statement denying involvement. In the 2000s the Grey Wolves routinely demonstrated outside the

Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ( el, Οἰκουμενικὸν Πατριαρχεῖον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, translit=Oikoumenikón Patriarkhíon Konstantinoupóleos, ; la, Patriarchatus Oecumenicus Constanti ...

Fener Fener (; Greek: Φανάρι, ''Phanári''; in English also: Phanar) is a quarter midway up the Golden Horn in the district of Fatih in Istanbul, Turkey. Its name is a Turkish transliteration of the word "phanarion" (Medieval Greek: Φανάρι ...

(Phanar), Istanbul and burn the

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...

effigy An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...

. In October 2005 they staged a rally and proceeding to the gate they laid a black wreath, chanting "Patriarch Leave" and "Patriarchate to Greece", inaugurating the campaign for the collection of signatures to oust the Ecumenical Patriarchate from Istanbul. As of 2006 the Grey Wolves claimed to have collected more than 5 million signatures for the withdrawal of the Patriarch and called on the Turkish government to have the patriarch deported to Greece. In December 2017 Grey Wolves members, among them the BBP-affiliated

Alperen Ocakları Alperen Hearths (), officially the Alperen Hearths Foundation for Education, Culture, and Solidarity () or simply known as Alperens, are a far-right youth organization affiliated with the Great Unity Party in Turkey. History It was establishe ...

, invaded the

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...

and prayed there in protest against the United States recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel.

Anti-Armenian violence and activism

In January 2004 the Grey Wolves prevented the screening of '' Ararat'', a film about the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...

, in Turkey. On April 24, 2011, the murder of Sevag Balıkçı, a soldier of Armenian descent in the Turkish Army, was committed by Kıvanç Ağaoglu, who was a sympathizer of

, the late Grey Wolves leader. According to Ruben Melkonyan, an Armenian expert in Turkish studies, Ağaoglu was a member of the Grey Wolves. On April 24, 2012, the

Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day ( hy, Մեծ Եղեռնի զոհերի հիշատակի օր ''Mets Yegherrni zoheri hishataki or'') or Armenian Genocide Memorial Day is a public holiday in Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh and is observed ...

, nationalist groups including the Grey Wolves protested against the commemoration of the genocide in Istanbul's

Taksim Square Taksim Square ( tr, Taksim Meydanı, ), situated in Beyoğlu in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey, is a major tourist and leisure district famed for its restaurants, shops, and hotels. It is considered the heart of modern Istanbul, with the c ...

. In June 2015, during the visit of the Armenian pianist Tigran Hamasyan to the medieval Armenian city of

Ani Ani ( hy, Անի; grc-gre, Ἄνιον, ''Ánion''; la, Abnicum; tr, Ani) is a ruined medieval Armenian city now situated in Turkey's province of Kars, next to the closed border with Armenia. Between 961 and 1045, it was the capital of th ...

Kars Province Kars Province ( tr, Kars ili; ku, Parêzgeha Qersê; hy, Կարսի նահանգ) is a province of Turkey, located in the northeastern part of the country. It shares part of its closed border with Armenia. The provincial capital is the city of ...

, the local Grey Wolves leader suggested that his followers should "go on an Armenian hunt."

Other acts of violence

According to Zürcher and Linden, when Sunni radicals attacked Alevis in Istanbul in March 1995, the police in the Gazi quarter were "heavily infiltrated by Grey Wolves" and it was not until the police were replaced by military units that peace was restored. In December 1996, the Grey Wolves attacked left-wing students and teachers at

Istanbul University , image = Istanbul_University_logo.svg , image_size = 200px , latin_name = Universitas Istanbulensis , motto = tr, Tarihten Geleceğe Bilim Köprüsü , mottoeng = Science Bridge from Past to the Future , established = 1453 1846 1933 ...

, with the alleged approval of the police. In late November 2006 the Grey Wolves staged protests against

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

's visit to Turkey. On November 22, tens of protesters symbolically occupied

Haghia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...

in Istanbul to perform Muslim prayers. They chanted slogans against the Pope, such as "Don't make a mistake Pope, don't try our patience".

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

reported that the event was organized by ''Alperen Ocakları'', considered an offshoot of the Grey Wolves. Police arrested around 40 protesters for violating the ban on prayers in the former

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

, which had been a museum since the 1930s. In July 2014 around a thousand people demonstrated in

Kahramanmaraş Marash (Armenian: Մարաշ), officially Kahramanmaraş () and historically Germanicea (Greek: Γερμανίκεια), is a city in the Mediterranean Region of Turkey and the administrative center of Kahramanmaraş Province. Before 1973, Kahrama ...

against the presence of Syrian refugees who fled the Syrian Civil War. Many protesters made the sign of the Grey Wolves, blocked roads in the city and removed Arabic-language signs from stores. AKP lawyer

Mahir Ünal Mahir Ünal (born 1 July 1966) is a Turkish politician and academic from the Justice and Development Party (AKP) who served as the Minister of Culture and Tourism from 24 November 2015 to 24 May 2016. He has been a Member of Parliament for the ...

commented: "This doesn't make them idealists .e. members of the Grey Wolvesbut it is certain some people's attempt to show it like something the idealists did." In July 2015 the Grey Wolves staged protests across Turkey, burnt

flags of the People's Republic of China A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...

, attacked Chinese restaurants and "tourists who were mistaken for being Chinese" in response to the Chinese government's ban on Muslim Turkic

Uyghurs The Uyghurs; ; ; ; zh, s=, t=, p=Wéiwú'ěr, IPA: ( ), alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. The Uyghur ...

fast during the holy month of

Ramadan , type = islam , longtype = Religious , image = Ramadan montage.jpg , caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...

. Korean tourists were attacked by Grey Wolves. An Uighur worked at the Turkish run Chinese restaurant which was assaulted. Members of the Grey Wolves displayed a banner in multiple locations that read, "We crave Chinese blood." Grey Wolves members attacked the Thai consulate in Istanbul in apparent retaliation for the deportation of hundreds of Uyghurs by Thailand. MHP chairman Devlet Bahçeli stated that "Our nationalist youth is sensitive to injustices in China", and that the attacks by MHP-affiliated youth on South Korean tourists was "understandable", adding "What feature differentiates a Korean from a Chinese? They see that they both have slanted eyes. How can they tell the difference?" In November 2015, the Grey Wolves protested

Russian involvement in the Syrian Civil War Russia has supported the administration of incumbent President Bashar al-Assad of Syria since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011: politically, with military aid, and (since September 2015) with direct military involvement. The 20 ...

near Istanbul's Russian consulate, Ankara, and Adana, accusing Russia of slaughtering

Syrian Turkmen Syrian Turkmen, also referred to as Syrian Turkomans, Turkish Syrians, or simply Syrian Turks or Turks of Syria, ( ar, تركمان سوريا; tr, Suriye Türkmenleri or ) are Syrian citizens of Turkish people, Turkish origin who mainly trace ...

Presence in Eurasia

Azerbaijan

During the

(1988–94), Grey Wolves members fought on the Azerbaijani side against Armenians, but many reportedly returned to Turkey in late 1992. Around 200 members of the Grey Wolves were still in the conflict zone in September 1994 to train Azerbaijani units. İsgəndər Həmidov mitinqdə

In 1993, Azerbaijani Interior Minister

Isgandar Hamidov Isgandar Majid oglu Hamidov ( az, İsgəndər Məcid oğlu Həmidov) (also transliterated as ''Iskender Majid oglu Hamidov'' or ''Iskander Medjid oglu Hamidov''; April 10, 1948 in Bağlıpəyə village, Kalbajar rayon – February 26, 2020 in Baku) ...

established the National Democratic Party, which was known as Boz Qurd ("Grey Wolves"). According to Russian political scientist Stanislav Cherniavsky, the Azerbaijani Grey Wolves grew out of the nationalist Popular Front in 1992 and "considered itself a branch of the Turkish Grey Wolves." It was registered by the Justice Ministry in 1994. In interviews in 1992–93, Hamidov said there was no organisational link with the Turkish organization, stating that the "Grey Wolves of Azerbaijan are not subordinate to the Turkish group". In March 1995, a coup d'état attempt against President

Heydar Aliyev Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev ( az, Һејдәр Әлирза оғлу Әлијев, italic=no, Heydər Əlirza oğlu Əliyev, ; , ; 10 May 1923 – 12 December 2003) was a Soviet and Azerbaijani politician who served as the third president of Aze ...

was staged in Baku by paramilitary police chief

Rovshan Javadov Rovshan Bakhtiyar oghlu Javadov ( az, Rövşən Bəxtiyar oğlu Cavadov, 19 October 1951 – March 17, 1995) was an officer in the Azerbaijani Armed Forces and the chief of the Special Purpose Police Detachment of Azerbaijan (OPON). Born in wha ...

, Turkish far-right organizations (including the Grey Wolves), and the Azerbaijani opposition. According to

Thomas de Waal Thomas Patrick Lowndes de Waal (born 1966) is a British journalist and writer on the Caucasus. He is a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe. He is best known for his 2003 book '' Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War''. Lif ...

, the "shadowy backers of this uprising were never identified but appear to have included rogue elements of the Turkish security establishment and members of the 'Gray Wolves' Bozkurt movement." After the coup attempt, Hamidov was jailed, while the Azerbaijani Supreme Court formally abolished the National Democratic Party due to its links to the Turkish Grey Wolves, which it considered to be a terrorist organization. In 2004, Hamidov was freed in an amnesty granted by President

Ilham Aliyev Ilham Heydar oghlu Aliyev ( az, İlham Heydər oğlu Əliyev, ; born 24 December 1961) is the fourth president of Azerbaijan, serving in the post since 31 October 2003. The son and second child of the former Azerbaijani leader Heydar Aliyev, ...

. In 2008, Hamidov retired from politics and as president of the party, which had been inactive since. After 2007, the Grey Wolves reportedly used to not operate in Azerbaijan for some time. In the blockades of the Lachin corridor of December 2022 the presence of Grey Wolves was made apparent by their repeated salutations.

China (Xinjiang)

The Grey Wolves "set up training camps in

for youths from Turkic language groups" following the

. Failing to find support in post-Soviet Central Asian republics, they targeted the

, concentrated in the Chinese province of

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

and began actively supporting the

East Turkestan independence movement The East Turkestan independence movement ( ug, شەرقىي تۈركىستان مۇستەقىللىق ھەرىكىتى; zh, s=东突厥斯坦独立运动) is a political movement that seeks the independence of East Turkestan, a large and spa ...

. In this scope, the Grey Wolves' European affiliates attacked Chinese tourists in the Netherlands. The

Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies The Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS), was founded in 1996 as an independent think-tank to develop an alternative framework for Peace and Security in South Asia through independent research and analysis. It continues to be one of t ...

suggested in 2012 they are "highly limited in their reach and support base". In March 2020, several Chinese state-run outlets published an article, which claimed that the

World Uyghur Congress The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) is an international organization of exiled Uyghur groups that claims to "represent the collective interest of the Uyghur people" both inside and outside of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's R ...

(WUC) and "its offshoots have forged ties with the Grey Wolves" and that WUC founder Erkin Alptekin met Türkeş on numerous occasions.

Cyprus

Following the

Turkish invasion of Cyprus The Turkish invasion of Cyprus began on 20 July 1974 and progressed in two phases over the following month. Taking place upon a background of Cypriot intercommunal violence, intercommunal violence between Greek Cypriots, Greek and Turkish ...

in 1974 the Grey Wolves "continued to play a role in radicalizing the dispute with Greek Cypriots by actively engaging in violence on the island." They actively supported Rauf Denktaş, the President of the unrecognized

Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, isl ...

between 1983 and 2005, and were involved, according to Harry Anastasiou, in state-sponsored terror of citizens. In July 1996,

Kutlu Adali Kutlu is a common masculine Turkish given name. In Turkish, "Kutlu" means "holy", "hooly", and/or "blessed". Given name * Kutlu Adalı, Turkish Cypriot journalist * Kutlu Özmakinacı, bassist of Turkish rock band Yüksek Sadakat. * Kutlu T ...

, a Turkish Cypriot journalist who had criticized Denktaş and his policies, was killed by the Grey Wolves, according to some sources. In August 1996, the Grey Wolves were involved in an attack on a protest of Greek Cypriots against the Turkish occupation of Northern Cyprus.

Tassos Isaac Anastasios "Tassos" Isaac ( el, Αναστάσιος "Τάσος" Ισαάκ) (1972 – 11 August 1996), was a Greek Cypriot refugee who participated in a civilian demonstration against the Republic of Turkey's military occupation of the north ...

, a Cypriot protester, was beaten to death by the Grey Wolves in the United Nations Buffer Zone. In July 1997 the Grey Wolves clashed in Northern Cyprus with Kurdish university students who protested against Turkey's invasion of northern Iraq in search of the PKK. On October 17, 2003, Murat Kanatlı, Turkish Cypriot journalist and editor of the opposition newspaper ''Yeniçağ'', was "attacked by a group of 20-30 persons belonging to the Grey Wolves" according to the International Press Institute (IPI). Kanatlı had covered the Grey Wolves' demonstration against the "intervention" of the European Union and the United States in elections in Northern Cyprus. During the 2004 referendum on the Annan Plan, the Grey Wolves campaigned for a 'no' vote". During the pre-voting period at least 50 Grey Wolves activists arrived in Northern Cyprus and caused riots against pro-ratification supporters. They were suspected of assaulting motorcyclists carrying 'vote yes' banners. In October 2013 that the Grey Wolves opened a new headquarters in North Nicosia's

Köşklüçiftlik Köşklüçiftlik is a quarter of North Nicosia in Northern Cyprus. In 2011, it had a population of 2,939. Cityscape It is bordered by the Pedieos River in the west, the Kumsal Park separating it from Kumsal in the north, the Green Line in the ...

quarter. During the opening ceremony Adem Yurdagül, the chairman of the Grey Wolves in Cyprus delivered a speech, while slogans like "Nicosia plain is home of Grey Wolves", "Cyprus is Turkish and will remain Turkish", "We are soldiers of lparslanTürkeş", "The Grey Wolves Movement cannot be prevented" were chanted. In November 2013 a fight broke out between members of the Grey Wolves and Kurdish students at the

Near East University Near East University (NEU; tr, Yakın Doğu Üniversitesi, commonly referred to as YDÜ) is a private university located in North Cyprus. It was founded in North Nicosia in 1988, by Suat Günsel, a Turkish Cypriot who is the 100% owner of NEU. ...

in North Nicosia resulting in arrest of 23 persons. According to the newspaper ''Havadis'', "the cause of the fight was allegations by the Grey wolves' organization that some Kurdish students broke the windows of the Grey wolves organization’s building. Around 500 students went out on the streets holding clubs and rocks and the police asked for reinforcement in order to put them under control."

Russia

In November and December 2015, Federation Council member

Andrey Klishas Andrey Alexandrovich Klishas (russian: Андре́й Алекса́ндрович Кли́шас; born November 9, 1972) is a Russian politician and lawyer serving as the Senator from Krasnoyarsk Krai since 2012. Member of the United Russia poli ...

and two

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

members of the

State Duma The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper house ...

proposed outlawing the Grey Wolves in Russia. In August 2020, the

Russian International Affairs Council The Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC, russian: Российский совет по международным делам) is a non-profit academic and diplomatic think tank established by the presidential decree dated 2 February 2010. ...

, a government think tank, classified the Grey Wolves as an extremist organization. ;Chechnya Members of the Grey Wolves fought on the Chechen separatist side during the

First Chechen War The First Chechen War, also known as the First Chechen Campaign,, rmed conflict in the Chechen Republic and on bordering territories of the Russian FederationФедеральный закон № 5-ФЗ от 12 января 1995 (в реда� ...

(1994–96) and the

Second Chechen War The Second Chechen War (russian: Втора́я чече́нская война́, ) took place in Chechnya and the border regions of the North Caucasus between the Russia, Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, from Augus ...

(1999–2000).

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

reported in 2000 that the Grey Wolves with most pro-Chechen stance were those affiliated with the Islamist

Great Union Party The Great Unity Party ( tr, Büyük Birlik Partisi, BBP) or Great Union Party is a far-right Sunni Islamist and ultranationalist political party in Turkey, created on 29 January 1993. According to Svante Cornell it is "widely believed that the Grey Wolves organised arms shipments to Chechnya, probably with at least the partial knowledge of the Turkish authorities." Russian media has alleged that the Turkish government knew and possibly supported, or at least did not prevent, the activities of the Grey Wolves in Chechnya.

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

Minister of State Security Valery Khaburdania stated in 2002 that the Grey Wolves were the "conduit of assistance" to the Chechen militants. Azerbaijani Grey Wolves also participated in the fight against Russia. In January 1995 '' Kommersant'' cited the Federal Counterintelligence Service (FSK) in stating that the Azerbaijani Grey Wolves sent 80 fighters to Chechnya. Another 270 fighters went to Chechnya in December of that year. ;Crimea According to a December 2015 report by the independent Russian online newspaper '' Svobodnaya Pressa'', Crimean Tatar nationalists have apparently began cooperating with the Grey Wolves.

Syria

Activists of the MHP and Idealist Hearths have fought in the Syrian civil war, in support of the

, whom they consider kinsmen. The MHP and Grey Wolves have provided the Syrian Turkmen Assembly with relief aid and fighters. Syrian Turkmen Assembly president

Abdurrahman Mustafa Abdurrahman Mustafa (born 1964) is a Syrian Turkmen politician who is the incumbent president of the Syrian Turkmen Assembly, the umbrella organization of the Turkmen political movements in Syria, and the political leader of the Turkmen national ...

stated in 2016 that "Turkish NGOs, just as the Grey Wolves, give us humanitarian aid." According to ''

Egypt Today ''Egypt Today'' is an Egyptian English-language monthly news magazine owned by Egyptian Media Group. History and profile ''Egypt Today'' was first published in 1979. It covers Egyptian current affairs and some international news. The magazine is ...

'' the

of Turkey (MİT) "is believed to be recruiting retired military personnel to provide support for armed groups operating in Syria, through the Grey Wolves Brigades." Some Syrian rebel groups have ties to Grey Wolves. One is the

Muntasir Billah Brigade tr, Muntasır Billah Tugayı , war = the Syrian Civil War , image = Muntasir Billah Brigade logo.png , image_size = 200px , caption = Logo of the militia , active = Unknown – 2013 2013 – ' ...

. Another is the Turkmen Abdulhamid Han Brigade. On 24 November 2015, the Turkish Air Force shot down a Russian

Sukhoi Su-24M The Sukhoi Su-24 ( NATO reporting name: Fencer) is a supersonic, all-weather attack aircraft developed in the Soviet Union. The aircraft has a variable-sweep wing, twin-engines and a side-by-side seating arrangement for its crew of two. It w ...

bomber aircraft near the Syria–Turkey border. The pilot was shot in mid-air parachuting toward land by

rebels under

Syrian Turkmen Brigades Syrian Turkmen Brigades ( tr, Suriye Türkmen Tugayları; ), also called the United Turkmen Army ( tr, Birleşik Türkmen Ordusu; ), are an informal armed opposition structure composed of Syrian Turkmen and Turks that form the military wing of ...

. The Turkmen rebel group operated under the command of

Alparslan Çelik Alparslan Çelik (born 1982) is a Turkish Islamist-Nationalist. In 2014 he joined the Syrian Turkmen Brigades and fought against the Syrian Army. On 24 November, after Turkey shot down a Russian bomber jet, he allegedly killed the Russian pilot O ...

, a Turkish national and a Grey Wolves member from Elazığ. ''

Youm7 ''Youm7'' ( ar, اليوم السابع, , meaning ''The Seventh Day'') is an Egyptian privately owned daily newspaper. It was first published as a weekly paper in October 2008 and has been published daily since May 2011. It is published in Arab ...

'', an Egyptian news site picked up a document allegedly issued by the

Army of Conquest The Army of Conquest ( ar, جيش الفتح) or Jaish al-Fatah, abbreviated JaF, was a joint command center of Sunni Islamist Syrian rebel factions participating in the Syrian Civil War. The alliance was formed in March 2015 under the supe ...

(''Jaish al-Fatah''), which claimed that it conspired with the

Turkistan Islamic Party The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) or the Turkistan Islamic Movement (TIM), formerly known as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and other names, is a Uyghur Islamic extremist organization founded in Western China. Its stated goals ar ...

and the Grey Wolves in the December 2016

assassination of Andrei Karlov Andrei Karlov, the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, was assassinated by Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, an off-duty Turkish police officer, at an art exhibition in Ankara, Turkey on the evening of 19 December 2016. The assassination took place after seve ...

, the Russian ambassador to Turkey. Russian-state run news

TASS The Russian News Agency TASS (russian: Информацио́нное аге́нтство Росси́и ТАСС, translit=Informatsionnoye agentstvo Rossii, or Information agency of Russia), abbreviated TASS (russian: ТАСС, label=none) ...

agency cited this in a news report.

Thailand

The

2015 Bangkok bombing On 17 August 2015, a bombing took place inside the Erawan Shrine at the Ratchaprasong, Ratchaprasong intersection in Pathum Wan District, Bangkok, Thailand, killing 20 people and injuring 125. Thai police were reported to have arrested two su ...

is suspected to have been carried out by the Grey Wolves due to Thailand's deportation of Uyghur terrorist suspects back to China instead of allowing them to travel to Turkey for asylum. A man with fake Turkish passports using the name Adem Karadag was arrested by the Thai police in connection to the bombing and bomb making materials found in his apartment.

Presence in Western Europe

Austria

In Austria, the Grey Wolves salute as well as its symbols were legally banned starting from March 1, 2019. It is punishable by fines up to €4,000. Turkey's Foreign Ministry condemned the ban. " e “bozkurt” (“Grey Wolves”) sign, which is a symbol of a legal political party in Turkey and the “rabia” sign that is widely used by Muslims in many countries as well as in Turkey. We do not accept this and we strongly condemn it," read the Foreign Ministry statement. Turkey also called on Austria to "correct this grave mistake," because it "deeply offends Turkey, the Turkish community in Austria and Muslims." In early March 2019, Grey Wolves sympathizers started a campaign on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

by sending Chancellor Sebastian Kurz hundreds of photos of people showing the salute. Kurz defended the ban declaring people and organizations that do not accept democratic values, or fight against those values, have no place in Austria. In January 2020 four Turkish bus drivers were fired in Vienna for making the Grey Wolves sign. On June 26, 2020, Turkish nationalist groups, identified by journalist

Jake Hanrahan Jake Hanrahan (born 23 January 1990) is a British journalist and documentary filmmaker from the East Midlands. He reports on war and conflict, focusing on militia forces, paramilitaries and guerrilla warfare. Hanrahan is best known for his wor ...

as Grey Wolves members, attacked Kurdish rallies in Vienna protesting the Turkish operation in Iraqi Kurdistan. Turkey criticized the handling of the violence by the Austrian police and claimed that it was organized by PKK sympathizers.

Belgium

The ''Belçika Türk Federasyonu'' (BTF) is considered to be "affiliated with or sympathetic" to the Grey Wolves. According to one study, its aim is "to foster loyalty among young people of Turkish origin to their ancestral culture, religion and history and to keep alive the Turkish identity in Europe. BTF claims to oppose not the integration of Belgian-Turks into their host society but rather their assimilation by it." Its activities mostly focus on "issues relevant to Turkish national sensitivities". For instance, it has demonstrated against the erection of an Armenian Genocide memorial in Brussels. During the municipal elections of 2006 two member of the BTF came to the attention of the media: Fuat Korkmazer on the Flemish Christian Democrats (CD&V) list in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

and Murat Denizli on the Francophone Socialist Party (PS) list in Schaerbeek, a commune in the Brussels Region. Korkmazer got a very low number of votes, while Denizli was elected but had to resign because it was discovered he had a false address and lived in another commune. In 2019,

sp.a Vooruit (Dutch for Forward, ) is a Flemish social democratic political party in Belgium. The party was known as the Flemish Socialist Party (1978–2001: ''Socialistische Partij'', SP; 2001–2021: ''Socialistische Partij Anders'', SP.A) until 2 ...

candidate Mustafa Ayutar was linked to the organization. In 2019, Belgian-Kurdish

New Flemish Alliance The New Flemish Alliance ( nl, Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie, N-VA) is a Flemish nationalist and conservative political party in Belgium. The party was founded in 2001 by the right-leaning fraction of the centrist-nationalist People's Union (VU). T ...

politician

Zuhal Demir Zuhal Demir (born 2 March 1980 in Genk) is a Belgian lawyer and politician affiliated to the N-VA. Demir was elected as a member of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives in 2010. She is currently the Flemish minister for Justice and Enforceme ...

reported that posters advertising her candidacy in Maasmechelen had been vandalized with swastikas and the symbol of the Grey Wolves.

France

In May 1984, Grey Wolves leader

carried out a

bombing A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechanica ...

of an Armenian Genocide memorial in Alfortville, a Paris suburb. According to Direction générale de la sécurité intérieure members of the Grey Wolves partook in a January 21, 2012 demonstration in Paris against the adoption of the bill criminalizing the Armenian genocide denial in France. In November 2020, France banned the French branch of the Grey Wolves organisation after defacement of an

Armenian Genocide Memorial The Armenian Genocide Memorial complex ( hy, Հայոց ցեղասպանության զոհերի հուշահամալիր, ''Hayots tseghaspanutyan zoheri hushahamalir'', or Ծիծեռնակաբերդ, '' Tsitsernakaberd'') is Armenia's official ...

, organizing combat training camps in the

Ardèche Ardèche (; oc, Ardecha; frp, Ardecha) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019. and orchestrating marches targeting Armenians near Lyon. Turkey's Foreign Ministry criticized the ban and said: "we will reciprocate to this decision in the strongest way." In addition, accused the French government of tolerating associations affiliated with the PKK and the FETÖ.

Germany

As a far-right extremist group, the Grey Wolves are monitored by the German authorities. The group brings conflict from their native Turkey into Germany with harassment against Kurds and Armenians as well as the left. According to '' Neues Deutschland'' the Grey Wolves are the largest far-right organization in Germany by membership as of 2013. A 2014 ''

Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

'' article estimated their membership to stand at no fewer than 10,000 people. A 2017 article published by the Federal Agency for Civic Education estimated over 18,000 members. Its members have actively engaged in attacks on and clashes with

Kurds in Germany Kurds in Germany are residents or citizens of Germany of full or partial Kurdish origin. There is a large Kurdish community in Germany. The number of Kurds living in Germany is unknown. Many estimates assume that the number is in the million ran ...

. The most important Grey Wolves-affiliated Turkish organization in Germany is ''Türk Federasyon'' (Avrupa Demokratik Ülkücü Türk Dernekleri Federasyonu, ADÜTDF), which has around 200 member organizations. Founded in 1978 by 64 nationalist organizations it declined in the 1980s, but revived in the 1990s and claimed to have doubled its membership following the

Solingen arson attack of 1993 The Solingen arson attack was one of the most severe instances of xenophobic violence in modern Germany. On the night of 28–29 May 1993, four young German men (ages 16–23) belonging to the far right skinhead scene, with neo-Nazi ties, set fi ...

. It denies any direct links with the Grey Wolves in Turkey or the MHP, however, its monthly journal publishes articles praising the MHP and denouncing left-wing and Kurdish organizations in Turkey and Germany. Furthermore, in May 1998 MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli addressed a crowd of 15,000

German Turks Turks in Germany, also referred to as German Turks and Turkish Germans (german: Türken in Deutschland/Deutschtürken; tr, Almanya'da yaşayan Türkler/Almanya Türkleri), are ethnic Turkish people living in Germany. These terms are also used t ...

at the ''Türk Federasyon'' annual meeting. Baden-Württemberg Interior Minister Reinhold Gall stated that ''Türk Federasyon'' is a "melting pot of extreme nationalists with Turkish migrant background". ''Türk Federasyon'' alone has 7,000 active members (for comparison, the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party (NPD) has 5,000 members). According to educationalist Kemal Bozay, their influence on third generation Turkish youth—who are "looking for an identity"—has "increased significantly". They had ties to the banned Turkish-nationalistic outlaw motorcycle club Osmanen Germania BC. The 2013

Annual Report on the Protection of the Constitution The Annual Report on the Protection of the Constitution (german: Verfassungsschutzbericht) is an annual report on the activities of far right, far left, and Islamic extremist circles and on espionage activities in Germany. Gathered on the basis o ...

by the German Federal Ministry of the Interior said that as a result of a June 2013 search by police in three German federal states "two live arms with ammunition, blank-firing guns, batons, electric stun guns and Samurai swords" were seized from members of the Grey Wolves. The Ministry of the Interior of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

, Germany's most populous state where 70 Grey Wolves associations with more than 2,000 members operated in 2011, also monitors the organization. Nevertheless, , a

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

member of the state's parliament, stated in a 2011 interview that the threat of the Grey Wolves in Germany is underestimated. He said, "When thousands of Turkish right-wing radicals come together in Essen, we're not worried. But if 100 members of NPD march, we immediately organize a counter-demonstration." Olaf Lehne, a Christian Democratic Union member of North Rhine-Westphalia's state parliament, stated in an interview that the Grey Wolves "are in this country, unfortunately, too often ignored". He also added that they have a large number of sympathizers among young people. Another important organisation affiliated with the Grey Wolves are the ATIB (Turkish: ''Avrupa Türk-İslam Birliği, ATİB''; German: ''Union der Türkisch-Islamischen Kulturvereine in Europa''). According to the

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

State Government, there are 45 Grey Wolves clubs and associations in that state as of 2012. These associations are often given non-political names (usually cultural and athletic) to conceal their identity.

Netherlands

As early as 1979 the Dutch

Scientific Council for Government Policy The Scientific Council for Government Policy (Dutch: Wetenschappelijke Raad voor het Regeringsbeleid, WRR) is an independent think tank of the Government of the Netherlands based in The Hague, whose members include prominent social scientists, ec ...

reported that clashes between the Grey Wolves and the Dutch-Turkish Workers Association (HTIB) occurred on May Day celebrations. Organizations such as Turkish Federation Netherlands (''Turkse Federatie Nederland'', TFN) and Turkish Islamic Federation (''Turks Islamitische Federatie'') have links to the Grey Wolves. According to Wangmo and Yazilitas, the Grey Wolves in the Netherlands have engaged in a variety of activities, ranging from criminal activities and nationalist propaganda to support of football teams. The organization was more influential in the 1990s when many first-generation Turkish immigrants "maintained a deep interest in Turkish politics and who had a deeply felt Turkish identity." Grey Wolves activists have participated—with varying successes—in the local politics of several Dutch municipalities. In November 2020,

VVD The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party in ...

MP Bente Becker introduced a motion to ban the Grey Wolves. The motion was supported by 147 members of the parliament with 3 members voting against it. All three votes against the motion came from

Denk Denk may refer to: People *Jeremy Denk (born 1970), American classical pianist * Michael K. Denk, Canadian professor of chemistry * Paula Denk (1908–1978), German actress *Ralph Denk (born 1973), German cyclist and cycling manager *Ulrike Denk ( ...

Sweden

On September 13, 2015, an explosion occurred at a Kurdish civil center in Stockholm, Sweden, following clashes between Turks, Kurds and anti-fascists at a rally organised by the Swedish Grey Wolves. The

Swedish Green Party The Green Party ( sv, Miljöpartiet de gröna, lit=Environmental Party the Greens, commonly referred to in Swedish as Miljöpartiet or MP) is a political party in Sweden based on green politics. . Sparked by the anti-nuclear power movement follo ...

was hit by a political scandal in April 2016, as images emerged of party member and Housing Minister Mehmet Kaplan attending a dinner party alongside leading members of the Grey Wolves. Kaplan resigned when a 2009 video was made public in which he compared

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

's treatment of Palestinians to that of Jews by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. The

Sweden Democrats The Sweden Democrats ( sv , Sverigedemokraterna ; SD ) is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Sweden. As of 2022, it is the largest member of Sweden's right-wing governing bloc to which it provides confidence and supply, a ...

party have called for the Grey Wolves to be banned in Europe and for its members in Sweden to be deported.

Vatican

On May 13, 1981 Mehmet Ali Ağca, an alleged Grey Wolves member, attempted to murder

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

in St. Peter's Square. The masterminds were not identified and the organization's role remains unclear. According to

Daniel Pipes Daniel Pipes (born September 9, 1949) is an American historian, writer, and commentator. He is the president of the Middle East Forum, and publisher of its ''Middle East Quarterly'' journal. His writing focuses on American foreign policy and the ...

and Khalid Duran Grey Wolves appear to have been involved in the assassination attempt and write that Ağca "in his own confused way mixed Turkish nationalist sentiments with fundamentalist Islam." However, Italian investigators could not establish his link to the Grey Wolves.

Norway

There is allegedly a Grey Wolf group recruiting in Drammen, Norway.

Illegal drug trade allegations

Grey Wolves members and leaders have been involved in international drug trafficking since the 1980s. In the early 1980s U.S. anti-terrorism officials at the State Department reported that Türkeş is "widely believed to have been involved" in moving heroin from Turkey into Western Europe. According

Stephen E. Ambrose Stephen Edward Ambrose (January 10, 1936 – October 13, 2002) was an American historian, most noted for his biographies of U.S. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. He was a longtime professor of history at the University of New Or ...

, the leaders of Grey Wolves had built in the late 1980s an army by trading drugs for military equipment, ranging from assault helicopters to tanks. Drugs were transported to Italy, where organized crime processed them. According to

Peter Dale Scott Peter Dale Scott (born 11 January 1929) is a Canadian-born poet, academic, and former diplomat. A son of the Canadian poet and constitutional lawyer F. R. Scott and painter Marian Dale Scott, he is best known for his critiques of deep politics a ...

, the author of the book ''American War Machine'', in 2010 there were drug producing and dealing groups that had clear ties with the Grey Wolves and its affiliated political party, MHP.

Designation as a terrorist group

In 2005, Kazakhstan banned the Grey Wolves, classifying it as a terrorist group. Following the November 2020 ban of the Grey Wolves in France for hate speech and violence, and the calls for similar actions to be taken in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, the

urged, on 20 May 2021, that the 27 member states of the

to designate the Grey Wolves as a terrorist group, and thus, marking the first time that an EU institution has linked the Grey Wolves to terrorism. The Turkish government reacted to the EP report by calling it "biased" and "unacceptable", because, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgiç, the Grey Wolves are "a legal movement, which is associated with a long-established political party in Turkey." The MFA claimed the "slanders" are "fabricated by the anti-Turkey Armenian diaspora as well as PKK and FETÖ circles." In September 2021 Representative

Dina Titus Alice Costandina Titus (born May 23, 1950) is an American political scientist and politician who has been the United States representative for since 2013. She served as the U.S. representative for from 2009 to 2011, when she was defeated by Joe ...

(D-NV) proposed designating the Grey Wolves as a terrorist group through an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The proposed amendment asked the

US Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

to provide "a detailed report of the activities of the Grey Wolves organization undertaken against US interests, allies, and international partners" and determine if the organization "meet the criteria for designation as a foreign terrorist organization." The state-run Anadolu Agency claimed that the Gülen movement was behind the move.

Cultural references

* In the 2002 film ''

Aram Aram may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Aram'' (film), 2002 French action drama * Aram, a fictional character in Japanese manga series '' MeruPuri'' * Aram Quartet, an Italian music group * ''Aram'' (Kural book), the first of the three ...

'' a French-Armenian fighter named Levon attempts to kill a high level Turkish general who is the head of Grey Wolves. * In the 2003 novel ' ("Empire of the Wolves") by

Jean-Christophe Grangé Jean-Christophe Grangé (born 15 July 1961) is a French mystery writer, journalist, and screenwriter. Grangé was born in Paris. He was a journalist before setting up his own press agency L & G. Bibliography * '' Le Vol des cigognes'' (1994) ** ...

the Grey Wolves are involved in a woman's murder. The 2005 film ''

Empire of the Wolves ''Empire of the Wolves'' (French: ''L'Empire des loups'') is a 2005 movie directed by Chris Nahon, written by Christian Clavier, Jean-Christophe Grangé, Chris Nahon and Franck Ollivier, and starring Jean Reno, Arly Jover, and Jocelyn Quivrin. Pl ...

'' is based on the same-name novel by Grangé. *The left-wing American podcast '' Chapo Trap House'' (2016–present) refers to avid fans and Patreon backers as "Grey Wolves," an ironic reference to the podcast's pretended support of Erdoğan and the AKP.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{Authority control 1969 establishments in Turkey Anti-Armenianism in Europe Anti-Armenianism in Turkey Anti-Christian sentiment in Asia Anti-Christian sentiment in Europe Anti-communist organizations Anti-communist terrorism Anti-Greek sentiment Anti-Iranian sentiments Anti-Kurdish sentiment

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

Antisemitism in Turkey Deniers of the Armenian genocide Far-right politics in Asia Far-right politics in Europe Far-right politics in Turkey Far-right terrorism Idealism (Turkey) Nationalist movements in Asia Nationalist movements in Europe Neo-fascist organizations Operation Gladio Organised crime groups in Germany Organizations based in Asia designated as terrorist Organizations based in Europe designated as terrorist Organizations designated as terrorist by Kazakhstan Organisations designated as terrorist by the European Union Organizations established in 1969 Organized crime groups in Turkey Sunni Islamist groups Terrorism in Turkey Turkish nationalist organizations

Name and symbolism

Ideology

Base

Links to the Turkish government and NATO

History

Early history

1970s violence and 1980 coup

Post-1980

Anti-Kurdish violence and activism

=1990s

=2000s

=2010s

Greece-related violence and activism

Anti-Armenian violence and activism

Other acts of violence

Presence in Eurasia

Azerbaijan

China (Xinjiang)

Cyprus

Russia

Syria

Thailand

Presence in Western Europe

Austria

Belgium

France

Germany

Netherlands

Sweden

Vatican

Norway

Illegal drug trade allegations

Designation as a terrorist group

Cultural references

See also

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

Further reading

External links