“Danger to our democracy”
Members of the Bundestag want to examine the ban on “grey wolves”.
08/06/2023, 3:15 p.m
The Turkish movement “Grey Wolves” has around 11,000 followers in Germany and is considered the largest right-wing extremist movement in this country. Traffic light and CDU politicians are calling for an urgent examination of the group. Also because of their proximity to the AKP.
Politicians from the CDU, Greens and FDP warn of the Turkish “Grey Wolves” movement, which is being observed by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. In its overall structure, it is “the largest right-wing extremist organization in Germany and, with its ultra-nationalist, racist and anti-Semitic world view, a danger to our liberal democracy,” said CDU member of the Bundestag Christoph de Vries of “Welt”. He spoke of “increasing ties between the ‘Gray Wolves’ and the Turkish AKP and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan”. This shows that there is an urgent need for action.
The supporters of the right-wing extremist “Ülkücü Movement” are known as “Gray Wolves”. In Turkey, the ultra-nationalist MHP is their political representative and ally of President Erdogan’s AKP. According to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, they have around 11,000 supporters in Germany.
The CDU MP de Vries emphasized that a ban on associations must always be legally watertight and should not be open to challenge in court. “But we expect that the ban procedure will be carried out by the Federal Minister of the Interior with the necessary seriousness and consistency, including the necessary use of resources,” he said.
The FDP interior expert Linda Teuteberg made a similar statement and called for a “clear answer from the well-fortified, free constitutional state”. She expects “that the Federal Minister of the Interior will seriously examine whether and how a ban on the clubs associated with the ‘Grey Wolves’ can be enforced in a court of law”. Green MP Lamya Kaddor spoke out in favor of a ban: “In my view, a ban on the Ülkücü movement, as one of the largest nationalist, right-wing extremist movements in Germany, would be consistent and correct.”