As Turkey exited EURO 2024 following a 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands on Saturday night, discussions were dominated not by their performance, but by the use of a nationalist hand salute with racist connotations.
Turkey, seen as underdogs in the tournament, earned commendation for their gameplay. However, the excitement was quickly overshadowed by debates surrounding a controversial gesture. This hand salute, associated with the Grey Wolves, a far-right nationalist group, sparked concern among many who see it as a symbol of oppression rather than national pride.
The National Defence University Rector Prof. Dr. Erhan Afyoncu went so far as to interpret the nationalist displays as historical vindication, likening Turkey’s victory over Austria and player Melih Demiral’s wolf salute to a symbolic completion of Turkey’s historical ambitions in Vienna.
Turkish nationalism marred the tournament, sometimes in astonishing ways. In Germany, Turkish fans marched through the streets shouting, “We don’t want refugees in Turkey”, in reference to Syrians seeking shelter in Turkey. This ironic stance was noted by many, as demonstrators repeatedly performed the Grey Wolves salute and chanted, “We don’t want refugees in our country”. German police intervened several times as Turkish fans paraded throughout Berlin, displaying far-right slogans and engaging in aggressive behaviour, including booing Dutch players and attacking Dutch fans at public viewing events.
These scenes included Turkish fans in Berlin showing the Grey Wolves salute during the national anthem, a gesture not broadcasted by UEFA.
Post-match, violence erupted as Turkish supporters attacked Dutch fans, further tainting the tournament’s atmosphere.
Amidst the celebrations on Hobbemastraat in The Hague, a racist Turkish fan, presumably residing in the Netherlands as he spoke Flemish, was recorded calling out both Dutch and Jewish people, swearing at them.
Adding to the nationalist fervour, the Turkish armed forces released a video urging victory against the Netherlands, emphasising a militarised national spirit with the slogan “National Spirit, National Strength!” (Millî ruh, millî güç!).
Turkey’s EURO 2024 campaign, initially promising, ended under a cloud of nationalist controversy, leaving many to ponder the influence of extremist ideologies on sports and national identity.
Political response in Germany: Calls for ban on Grey Wolves
The Grey Wolves salute controversy at EURO 2024 has led to significant political responses in Germany, where the Turkish nationalist group maintains a strong presence. The Die Linke party in Hamburg recently proposed a resolution urging state and federal governments to take action against the Grey Wolves. This proposal, signed by several state parliament members, highlights the need to not only criticise UEFA but also ban the Grey Wolves and combat fascist ideology.
The proposal references the incident where Turkish footballer Merih Demiral made the Grey Wolves salute during a match, labelling it a racist symbol. It recalls German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser’s disapproval of the gesture and criticises the lack of action since the federal parliament’s 2020 decision to review banning procedures for the Grey Wolves.
The inactivity of German authorities has enabled public displays of the salute without fear of consequences, and the proposal notes the Grey Wolves’ perception of Kurds, Armenians, Jews, Alevis, Yazidis, and Christians as enemies. The alliance between the Grey Wolves’ political party, MHP, and Turkey’s ruling AKP since 2018 has led to increased radicalisation among Turkish nationalists in Germany, who also monitor and threaten Turkish dissidents.
The Die Linke party calls for a thorough investigation and prohibition of the Grey Wolves’ activities at both state and federal levels, stressing that tolerance should not be extended to any fascist group.
Turkey’s opposition reacts to Turkish footballer’s ‘Grey Wolf’ salute during EURO 2024
A storm of reactions has followed Demiral’s ‘Grey Wolf’ salute after scoring a goal in the Turkey-Austria match at the European Football Championship. The gesture, associated with Turkish nationalism and the ultra-nationalist Grey Wolves movement, has sparked controversy and highlighted ongoing tensions within Turkish society and the football community.
Deniz Naki’s response
Deniz Naki, a former Amedspor player previously banned for life due to a victory sign and social media posts, criticised the comparison between his gesture and Demiral’s. Naki argued that the Grey Wolf sign represents racism, nationalism, and exclusion, whereas his victory sign symbolised peace, freedom, and international brotherhood. He condemned attempts to normalise what he sees as a racist symbol, expressing hope that football fields would become “graves for fascism”, rather than platforms for such gestures.
Political leaders react
The controversy extended into the political arena. Ferhat Encü, an MP from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, condemned the gesture, highlighting its association with historical atrocities and contrasting it with the symbol of resistance and freedom. “The ‘Grey Wolf’ gesture, responsible for atrocities in Sivas, Maraş and many other massacres and deaths, cannot be equated with the ‘Victory’ sign, which symbolises freedom, peace and resistance. One represents racism and fascism, while the other represents freedom and resistance,” Encü tweeted.
Özgür Özel, leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), criticised UEFA’s intervention but warned that intensifying this debate could harm the national team. He also reminded the public of the past lynching of Deniz Naki by the same individuals now defending Demiral.
Historical and academic perspectives
Historian Axel Bertamini-Çorluyan shared a pied piper drawing symbolising the confusion and misinformation surrounding the “Grey Wolf” sign, portraying various Turkish political factions following the symbol blindly. “My thoughts on the frenzy and disinformation storm caused by the Grey Wolf gesture issue:” Bertamini-Çorluyan tweeted. In the drawing, the pied piper represented the ‘Grey Wolves paradigm’, followed in sequence by Kemalists, neo-nationalists, Islamists and various Turkish “leftists”.
Bozkurt işareti meselesi nedeniyle yaşanan hezeyan ve dezenformasyon furyasında aklımdan geçenler: pic.twitter.com/xu4wS4x8vi
— Axel Bertamini-Corluyan (@AxelCorlu) July 6, 2024
Political scientist Dr Onur Alp Yılmaz explained that the gesture, invented in the 1990s, was politicised by the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) as a symbol of their “Turkish-Islamic cause”. Yılmaz stated, “You’ve been so naively eager to legitimise MHP’s bid for dominance for days now. It shouldn’t be hard to grasp that the wolf in Turkish mythology doesn’t equate to the Grey Wolf gesture.”
Human rights and activist voices
Düzen Tekkal, a German-Yazidi journalist, filmmaker, war reporter, human rights activist and Founder of Hawar.help, expressed her outrage: “I cannot and will not remain silent about this. For years, I have received death threats from supporters of the Grey Wolves, one of the largest far-right groups in Germany. Merih Demiral displaying the far-right wolf salute is an insult to the victims. This is very bitter for Turkish fans.”
Eren Keskin, a lawyer and human rights advocate, harshly condemned the ‘Grey Wolf’ gesture, linking it to notorious figures and events in Turkish history associated with violence and oppression. “The Grey Wolf gesture is Ogün Samast, the Grey Wolf gesture is Ünal Osmanağaoğlu, the Grey Wolf gesture is Alaaddin Çakıcı, the Grey Wolf gesture is Esat Oktay Yıldıran. Any word spoken in the name of democracy and human rights by those who defend it is a ‘lie’!” Keskin tweeted.
Environmental and human rights activist Bülent Şık associated the gesture with political corruption, violence and environmental degradation. “The Grey Wolf gesture used by the Idealists only reminds me of unsolved or solved murders, drug gangs, cheque-bond mafia, those who play the leading role in plundering and looting the country’s underground and above-ground resources under the discourse of survival, and those who don’t care a bit about the poisoning of land-water-air while saying we won’t give an inch of the country’s land. The rest is empty talk for me,” Şık remarked.
Populism does not require consistency
On social media, users recalled an incident where President Erdoğan had a woman detained in 2015 for making the ‘Grey Wolf’ sign, highlighting the political inconsistencies.
Journalist Ali Duran Topuz described the gesture as a “bloody invitation” to eliminate those who oppose nationalist ideologies. “The ‘Grey Wolf’ gesture is not a unifying symbol for all Turks, but rather a ‘bloody invitation’ to eliminate those who don’t submit to the ‘law of the wolf’,” he said.
Journalist Çetin Yılmaz called for Demiral’s exclusion from the national team, emphasising the symbol’s recent history and its violent connotations. “Disgraceful. Right on the anniversary of the Sivas Massacre. Merih Demiral should be excluded from the squad,” Yılmaz tweeted.
The Serbestiyet newspaper highlighted Erdoğan’s ideological transformation:
“- In 2011, Erdoğan said to [now his coalition partner] Bahçeli, ‘I walk with people, not with the Grey Wolf.’
– In 2015, a woman showing the Grey Wolf sign to Erdoğan was detained.
– In 2018, Erdoğan made the Grey Wolf sign ‘unintentionally.’
– Erdoğan defended Merih Demiral, who was penalised for making the Grey Wolf sign, by citing German and French symbols.”
