Grey Wolves

The  Grey Wolves ( Turkish:  Bozkurtlar ),  officially known as  Ülkü Ocakları ( Turkish: "Idealist Clubs" or "Idealist Hearths"), is a  Turkish nationalist organization. It is variously described as ultra-nationalist or  neo-fascist. A youth organization with close links to the  Nationalist Movement Party (MHP),  it has been described as MHP's paramilitary or militant wing.  Its members deny its political nature and claim it to be a cultural and education foundation,  which is expressed in its full official name:  Ülkü Ocakları Eğitim ve Kültür Vakfı (Idealist Clubs Educational and Cultural Foundation).

Established by Colonel  Alparslan Türkeş <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> in late 1960s, it rose to prominence in  late 1970s political violence in Turkey<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> when its members engaged in  urban guerrilla warfare<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> with left-wing activists and militants. Scholars have described it as a  death squad<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, responsible for most of the violence and killings in this period. Their most notorious attack, which killed over 100  Alevis<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, took place in Maraş in December 1978<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">. They are also alleged to have been behind the  Taksim Square massacre<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> on May day, 1977. The masterminds behind the  attempt<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> on  Pope John Paul II<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">'s life in 1981 by Grey Wolves member  Mehmet Ali Ağca<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> were not identified and the organization's role remains unclear. Due to these attacks the Grey Wolves have been described by scholars and journalists as a terrorist<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> organization. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> The organization has long been a prominent suspect in investigations into the Turkish " deep state<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">", and is suspected of having had close dealings in the past with the  Counter-Guerrilla<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, the Turkish branch of the NATO  Operation Gladio<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">A staunchly  Pan-Turkist<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> organization, in the early 1990s the Grey Wolves extended their area of operation into the post-Soviet states with Turkic and Muslim populations. Up to thousands of its members fought in the  Nagorno-Karabakh War<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> on the Azerbaijani side, and the  First<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> and  Second Chechen Wars<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> on the Chechen side. After an unsuccessful  attempt to seize power<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> in Azerbaijan in 1995, they were banned in that country. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Kazakhstan in 2005 also banned the organization, classifying it as a terrorist organization.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">Under  Devlet Bahçeli<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, who assumed the leadership of MHP and Grey Wolves after Türkeş's death in 1997, the organization has been reformed. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> The organization has also been active in the  Turkish-controlled portion<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> of Cyprus. It has affiliated branches in several Western European countries with significant Turkish populations, such as Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. In Germany, they are the largest far-right organization with at least 10,000 members and are monitored by the authorities as an  extremist<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> organization. According to a 2014 estimate, the Grey Wolves are supported by 3.6% of the Turkish electorate.

Name and symbolism
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">The organization's members are known as  Ülkücüler<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, literally meaning "idealists". <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Its informal name is inspired by the ancient legend of  Asena<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, a she-wolf in the  Ergenekon<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> a  myth<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> associated with  Turkic<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> ethnic origins in the Central Asian steppes. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> In Turkey, the wolf also symbolizes honor. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> The Grey Wolves have a "strong emphasis on leadership and hierarchical, military-like organisation."

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">The Grey Wolves and MHP supporters are known for their hand sign, which represents a wolf head. It is made by holding up the  forefinger<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">and  little finger<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> However, according to commentator  Mehmet Ali Birand<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, the sign is not exclusively used by Grey Wolves members.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">The Grey Wolves also use what scholar Ahmet İnsel describes as "fascist slogans imported from America", such as " Love it or leave it<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">" ( Ya Sev Ya Terk Et!<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">) and "Communists to Moscow" ( Komünistler Moskova'ya<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">).

Ideology
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">The Grey Wolves adhere to an extreme form of  Turkish nationalism<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">. It has been characterized as  neo-fascist<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> by scholars, <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:11.2px;line-height:11.2px;white-space:nowrap;">  <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">mainstream media, <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> and leftist sources. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">  [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._W._Apple_Jr. R. W. Apple Jr.]<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, writing in the  New York Times<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> in 1981, described MHP and its satellite groups as a "xenophobic, fanatically nationalist, neofascist network steeped in violence." <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> The organization's ideology emphasizes the early history of the Turkic states in  Central Asia<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> and blends it with  Islam<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">. Synthesis of Turkish identity and Islam is widely prevalent in their rhetoric and activities. One of their mottoes is "Your doctor will be a Turk and your medicine will be Islam." <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Other sources have described it as secular.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">Their ideology is based on the superiority of the Turkish race and the Turkish nation. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> According to Peters, they strive for an "ideal" Turkish nation, which they define as "Sunni-Islamic and  mono-ethnic<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">: only inhabited by 'true' Turks." <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> A Turk is defined as someone who lives in the Turkish territory, feels Turkish and calls themselves Turkish. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> In their ideology and activities, they are hostile to virtually all non-Turkish elements within Turkey, including  Kurds<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">,  Alevis<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">  Armenians<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">,  Greeks<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">,  Christians<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> overall, and Jews. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> They embrace  anti-Semitic<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">  conspiracy theories<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> such as those put forward by The Protocols of the Elders of Zion<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">. They have distributed the Turkish translation of  Adolf Hitler<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">'s  Mein Kampf<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">The Grey Wolves are  Pan-Turkist<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> and seek to unite the Turkic peoples in one state stretching from the Balkans to Central Asia. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> After the  dissolution of the Soviet Union<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> in 1991, the Grey Wolves called for "a revived Turkish empire embracing newly independent Central Asian states of the former Soviet Union." <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> They have proposed "a pan-Turkish extension of the Turkish nation-state." <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Due to their pan-Turkic agenda they are  hostile towards Iran<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> and  Russia<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">In its early days the Grey Wolves were staunchly anti-communist <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> and waged armed fighting against far-left groups in Turkey.

Base
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">According to sociologist Doğu Ergil <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, 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 percent of the Turkish electorate as of 2014. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:11.2px;line-height:11.2px;white-space:nowrap;">  <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">According to analyst Ankarali Jan, the Grey Wolves have 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." <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> One source claimed that the MHP and Grey Wolves "retain strong support within the military."

History
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">According to  Ruben Safrastyan<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, because the Grey Wolves are subtle and often formally operate as cultural and sports organizations, information about them is scarce.

Early history
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">The organization was formed by Colonel  Alparslan Türkeş <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> in the late 1960s as the paramilitary wing of the  Nationalist Movement Party<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> (MHP). In 1968 over a hundred camps for ideological and paramilitary training were founded by Türkeş across Turkey. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Canefe and Bora describe it as a  grassroots<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> fascist network, which had an active role in the economy, education, and neighborhoods. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Nasuh Uslu characterized it as a well-disciplined paramilitary organization, <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> while Joshua D. Hendrick compared its organization to the Nazi  Schutzstaffel<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> (SS). <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Young males (mostly students and economic migrants) from rural areas who have settled in Istanbul and Ankara made up the majority of its members. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> In 1973 Israeli orientalist  Jacob M. Landau<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> 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 the coup of 1980
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">By the late 1970s the organizations had tens of thousands of members. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">  Amberin Zaman<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> wrote that Turkish authorities had lost control over it. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Members of the Grey Wolves were involved in numerous assassinations of left-wing and liberal activists, intellectuals, labor organizers, ethnic Kurds, officials, journalists during the  political violence between 1976 and 1980<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> During this period, the organization became a " death squad<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">" <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> engaged in " street killings and gunbattles<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">". <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> According to authorities, 220 of its members carried out 694 <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> murders of left-wing and liberal activists and intellectuals. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> In total, some 5,000 to 6,000 people were killed with the Grey Wolves committing most of it.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">Their most significant attack of this period was the  Maraş massacre<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> in December 1978 when over 100  Alevis<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> were killed. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> They are also "alleged to have been behind" the  Taksim Square massacre<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> on May 1, 1977. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> 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." <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> During this violent period, Grey Wolves operated with the encouragement and the protection of the Turkish Army  Special Warfare Department<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> The conflict between left-wing and right-wing groups eventually resulted in a military intervention in September 1980 when General  Kenan Evren<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> led a  coup d'état<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> According to  Daniele Ganser<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, at the time of the coup, there were some 1,700 Grey Wolves organizations, with about 200,000 registered members and a million sympathizers. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Following the 1980 coup the Grey Wolves and MHP were banned. Their activism was diminished. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> The nationalist view was that they were "used and then discarded" by higher powers.

Links to the Turkish government and NATO
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">In the late 1970s, former military prosecutor and  Turkish Supreme Court<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Justice Emin Değer documented collaboration between the Grey Wolves and  Counter-Guerrilla<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">—the Turkish  stay-behind<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">  anti-communist<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> organization, part of  NATO<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> planning which was supposed to prepare networks for  guerrilla warfare<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> in case of a  Soviet<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> invasion—and the  Central Intelligence Agency<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> (CIA). Martin Lee writes that the Counter-Guerrilla supplied weapons to the Grey Wolves, <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> while according to Tim Jacoby, the CIA overtly transferred guns and explosives to Grey Wolf units through an agent in the 1970s.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">During the  Susurluk scandal<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> of 1996 the Grey Wolves were accused of being members of the  Counter-Guerrilla<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, the Turkish branch of  Operation Gladio<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">  Abdullah Çatlı<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, second in command of the Grey Wolves leadership, <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> was killed during the  Susurluk car crash<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, which sparked the scandal. The April 1997 report of the  Turkish National Assembly<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">'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."

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">In the 2008 the  Ergenekon<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">  trials<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> a court document revealed that the  National Intelligence Organization<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> (MİT) armed and funded Grey Wolves members to carry out political murders. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> They mostly targeted members of the  Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> (ASALA), <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> which attacked Turkish embassies abroad in retaliation of the denial of the Armenian Genocide<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">. The Turkish intelligence services also made use of the Grey Wolves in the  conflict against<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> the  Kurdistan Workers' Party<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> (PKK) by offering them amnesty in exchange.

After 1980
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">After the 1980 coup the Grey Wolves reorganized and largely focused on the Kurdish issue, and rallied for the aggressive  denial of the Armenian Genocide<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> and support of the  status quo<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> in Cyprus.

Kurdish-related
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">In the 1990s the Grey Wolves turned their focus on the Kurds and participated in the  conflict against the PKK<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> in southeastern Turkey. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> In 1999  Hürriyet Daily News<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> described the organization as "the staunchest opponent to the Kurdish cause in Turkey."

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">In May 1998 the Grey Wolves were involved in two murders. On May 3 a group of Grey Wolves reportedly attacked two students in  Bolu<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> who were passing before the organization's building. Kenan Mak, one of the students was killed. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> On May 5 a worker named Bilal Vural was killed in Istanbul's  Şişli<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> 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 also added that he was killed because he was a member of the pro-Kurdish  People's Democracy Party<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> (HADEP). <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> As a result of these murders  Republican People's Party (CHP)<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Deputy Chairman Sinan Yerlikaya and the  Freedom and Solidarity Party<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> (ÖDP) requested the organization to be closed by the authorities.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">During the  1999 general election<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Grey Wolves attacked members of the pro-Kurdish HADEP, allegedly with impunity.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">In August 2002 Grey Wolves burnt  Masoud Barzani<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">'s effigy in a protest in Ankara. Barzani, the leader of the  Kurdistan Democratic Party<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, who had claimed the partly  Turkmen<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">-inhabited Iraqi provinces of  Kirkuk<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> and  Mosul<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, as part of  Iraqi Kurdistan<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">On November 9, 2010 Hasan Şimşek, a Grey Wolves member and a student, was killed at the  Kütahya Dumlupınar University<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> during an apparent fight between Kurdish 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." <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Violence between Turkish and Kurdish students also broke out in  Marmara University<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> of Istanbul on November 12.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">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 they were planning an attack on the pro-Kurdish  Democratic Regions Party<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> (BDP).

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">In October 2014 the Grey Wolves were involved in deadly clashes and riots when Kurds in various cities of Turkey demonstrated against Turkey's non-intervention policy during the  Siege of Kobanî<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">  Milliyet<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> reported that a group of Grey Wolves in  Sancaktepe<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, Istanbul attempted to lynch a young man.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">On February 20, 2015 Fırat Yılmaz Çakıroğlu, leader of the Grey Wolves organisation in  Ege University<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, was stabbed to death, allegedly, by Kurdish nationalist students.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">In October 2013 the Grey Wolves demonstrated against the  Kurdish–Turkish peace process<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> across Turkey.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">On September 7–8, 2015 Turkish nationalists, including Grey Wolves members, attacked 128 offices of the pro-Kurdish  Peoples' Democratic Party<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> (HDP) across Turkey in an apparent retaliation of  anti-government attacks<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> by the  Kurdistan Workers' Party<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> (PKK). <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Some have alleged that some of the attacks were carried out by  AKP<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> members "masquerading as Grey Wolves" <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> or that the Grey Wolves have cooperated with AKP members in attacks on HDP offices and left-wingers suspected of sympathy for the Kurds.

Greece-related
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">On June 18, 1988 Kartal Demirağ, a senior <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> member of the Grey Wolves, made an assassination attempt at Prime Minister  Turgut Özal<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">'s life at the  Motherland Party<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> congress. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Özal linked it to his visit to Greece, which had occurred three days earlier, saying that the attempt was carried out "by a group opposed to his efforts to improve  relations with Greece<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">."

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">On September 6, 2005 a group of nationalists, led by a Grey Wolves leader Levent Temiz, <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> stormed into an Istanbul exhibition commemorating the  anti-Greek pogrom<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> of 1955. They threw eggs and tore down photos. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> The Grey Wolves issued a statement denying involvement.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">The Grey Wolves routinely demonstrate outside the  Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> in  Fener<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> (Phanar), Istanbul and burn the  Patriarch<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> in  effigy<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> 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. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> As of 2006 the Grey Wolves claimed to have collected more than 5 million signatures for the withdrawal of the Patriarch <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> and called on the Turkish government to have the patriarch deported to Greece.

Armenian-related
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">In January 2004 the Grey Wolves prevented the screening of  Ararat<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, a film about the  Armenian Genocide<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, in Turkey.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">On April 24, 2011  Sevag Balıkçı<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, a soldier of Armenian descent, was killed in service in the Turkish army by Kıvanç Ağaoglu, who was a sympathizer of Abdullah Çatlı, the late Grey Wolves leader. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> According to Ruben Melkonyan, an Armenian expert in Turkish studies, Ağaoglu was a member of the Grey Wolves.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">On April 24, 2012 on the  Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> nationalist groups including the Grey Wolves protested against the commemorations of the genocide in Istanbul's Taksim Square<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">In June 2015, during the visit of the Armenian pianist  Tigran Hamasyan<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> to the medieval Armenian city of  Ani<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> in Turkey the local Grey Wolves leader wondered aloud whether his followers should “go on an Armenian hunt.”

Other
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">According to  Zürcher<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> and Linden when in March 1995 Sunni radicals  attacked Alevis<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> in Istanbul, the local police of Gazi quarter was "heavily infiltrated by Grey Wolves" and it was not until they were replaced by military units that peace was restored.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">In December 1996, the Grey Wolves attacked left-wing students and teachers at  Istanbul University<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, under alleged police sanction.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">In late November 2006 the Grey Wolves staged protests against  Pope Benedict XVI<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">'s visit to Turkey. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> On November 22 tens of protesters symbolically occupied  Haghia Sophia<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">(Ayasofya) in Istanbul to perform Muslim prayers. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> They chanted slogans against the Pope, such as "Don't make a mistake Pope, don't try our patience". Reuters<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> reported that the event was organized by  Alperen Ocakları<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, considered an offshoot of the Grey Wolves. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Police arrested around 40 protesters for violating the ban on prayers in the former Byzantine church, which was converted into a museum in the 1930s.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">In July 2014 around a thousand people demonstrated in  Kahramanmaraş<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> against the presence of Syrian refugees that have  fled<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> the  civil war<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> in their country. Many protesters made the sign of the Grey Wolves, blocked roads in the city and removed Arabic-language signs from stores. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> AKP lawyer  Mahir Ünal<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> commented: "This doesn't make them idealists [i.e. members of the Grey Wolves] but it is certain some people's attempt to show it like something the idealists did."

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">In July 2015 the Grey Wolves staged protests across Turkey, burnt  flags of the People's Republic of China<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, attacked Chinese restaurants and "tourists who were mistaken for being Chinese" in response to the Chinese government's ban on the Muslim Turkic  Uyghurs<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> to fast during the holy month of Ramadan. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Korean tourists were attacked by Grey Wolves. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> An Uighur worked at the Turkish run Chinese restaurant which was assaulted. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:11.2px;line-height:11.2px;white-space:nowrap;">  <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">According to an account the Uyghur worker was violently assaulted by the attackers. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Members of the Grey Wolves displayed a banner in multiple locations that read, "We crave Chinese blood." <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Grey Wolves members attacked the Thai consulate in Istanbul in apparent retaliation for the deportation of hundreds of Uyghurs by Thailand. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">  Devlet Bahçeli<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> stated that "Our nationalist youth is sensitive to injustices in China." <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Bahçeli stated that the attacks by MHP-affiliated youth on South Korean tourists was "understandable" and added: "What feature differentiates a Korean from a Chinese? They see that they both have slanted eyes. How can they tell the difference?"

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">On 21 November 2015 Grey Wolves protested  Russian involvement in the Syrian Civil War<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> near Istanbul's Russian consulate, Ankara, and Adana. They accused Russia in slaughtering  Syrian Turkmens<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">.

Azerbaijan
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-weight:bold;line-height:22.4px;">In Nagorno-Karabakh

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">During the  Nagorno-Karabakh War<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> (1988–94), around 200 members of the Grey Wolves fought on the Azerbaijani side against the Armenian forces. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:11.2px;line-height:11.2px;white-space:nowrap;">  <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">Türkeş acknowledged that his followers were fighting in Karabakh with Azerbaijani forces, but they reportedly returned to Turkey in late 1992. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> A 1993 article in the Russian newspaper  Segodnya<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> ( ru<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">) claimed that around 15,000 members of the Grey Wolves were under the direct command of the  Azerbaijani Armed Forces<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> or formed independent armed groups.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-weight:bold;line-height:22.4px;">In domestic politics

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">In 1993, Azerbaijani Interior Minister  Isgandar Hamidov<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> established the  National Democratic Party<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> which was known as Boz Qurd ("Grey Wolves"). <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:11.2px;line-height:11.2px;white-space:nowrap;">  <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">According to Russian political scientist Stanislav Cherniavsky the Azerbaijani Grey Wolves grew out of the nationalist  Popular Front<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> in 1992 and "considered itself a branch of the Turkish Grey Wolves." <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> It was registered by the Justice Ministry in 1994. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> In interviews in 1992-93 Hamidov denied any connection with the Turkish organization stating that "Grey Wolves of Azerbaijan are not subordinate to the Turkish group".

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">In March 1995, a  coup d'état attempt<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> against President  Heydar Aliyev<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">'s government was staged in Baku by Colonel  Rovshan Javadov<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, Turkish far-right organizations (including the Grey Wolves), and the Azerbaijani opposition. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> According to  Thomas de Waal<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, 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." <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> After the coup attempt Hamidov was jailed, while the Azerbaijani Supreme Court formally abolished the party due to its links to the Turkish Grey Wolves, which it considered to be a terrorist organization. Hamidov was freed by the amnesty granted by President  Ilham Aliyev<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">. In 2008 Hamidov retired from politics and as president of the party, which had been inactive since. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> According to a 2007 article by Mahammad Imanli and Shahin Nasrullayev the Grey Wolves no longer operate in Azerbaijan.

China (Xinjiang)
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">The Grey Wolves "set up training camps in  Central Asia<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> for youths from  Turkic language groups<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">" following the  dissolution of the Soviet Union<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">. Failing to find support in post-Soviet Central Asian republics, they targeted the  Uyghurs<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, mostly concentrated in western Chinese province of  Xinjiang<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">. They support the  East Turkestan independence movement<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, which at times turns violent (such as during the  July 2009 Ürümqi riots<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">). In this scope, the Grey Wolves' European affiliates attacked Chinese tourists in the Netherlands. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:11.2px;line-height:11.2px;white-space:nowrap;">  <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">According to a 2012 report by  South Asia Analysis Group<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, the Eastern Turkestan Grey Wolf Party ( Uyghur<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">:  Shәrqiy Türkistan Bozkurt Partiyesi<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">) is among the "major terrorist/extremist organisations of Xinjiang". The same report states that it "used to have some following in  Urumchi<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">" and was "reportedly backed by teachers, students and other intellectuals." <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> The India-based  Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> suggested in 2012 they are "highly limited in their reach and support base". <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> On the contrary,  China Times<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> reported in 2015 that the Grey Wolves "enjoy wide support from China's Uyghur population."

Cyprus
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">Following the  Turkish invasion of Cyprus<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> 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." <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> They supported  Rauf Denktaş<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, the President of the unrecognized  Northern Cyprus<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> between 1983 and 2005, and were involved in state-sponsored terror of citizens, according to  Harry Anastasiou<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> In July 1996,  Kutlu Adali<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, a Turkish Cypriot journalist who had criticized Denktaş and his policies, was killed by the Grey Wolves, according to some sources.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">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<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, a Greek protester, was allegedly beaten to death by the Grey Wolves in the  United Nations Buffer Zone<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">In July 1997 the Grey Wolves clashed in Northern Cyprus with Kurdish university students who protested against  Turkey's invasion of northern Iraq<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> in search of the PKK.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">On October 17, 2003 Murat Kanatlı, Turkish Cypriot journalist and editor of the opposition newspaper  Yeniçağ<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, was "attacked by a group of 20-30 persons belonging to the Grey Wolves" according to the  International Press Institute<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> (IPI). Kanatlı had covered the Grey Wolves' demonstration against the "intervention" of the European Union and the United States in  elections in Northern Cyprus<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">During the  2004 referendum<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> on the  Annan Plan<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, 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. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> They were suspected of assaulting motorcyclists carrying 'vote yes' banners.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">In October 2013 that the Grey Wolves opened a new headquarters in  North Nicosia<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">'s  Köşklüçiftlik<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> 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 [Alparslan] Türkeş", "The Grey Wolves Movement cannot be prevented" were chanted.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">In November 2013 a fight broke out between members of the Grey Wolves and Kurdish students at the  Near East University<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> in North Nicosia resulting in arrest of 23 persons. According to the newspaper  Havadis<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, "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
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">In November and December 2015  Federation Council<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> member  Andrey Klipash<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> and two  Communist Party<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> members of the  State Duma<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> proposed outlawing the Grey Wolves in Russia.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-weight:bold;line-height:22.4px;">Chechnya

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">Members of the Grey Wolves fought on the Chechen separatist side during the  First Chechen War<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> (1994–96) <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Columbia_World_Dictionary_of_Islamism_149-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:isolate;white-space:nowrap;font-size:11.2px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">[148] <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> and the  Second Chechen War<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> (1999–2000). <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Cooley_39-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:isolate;white-space:nowrap;font-size:11.2px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">[38] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Goltz_150-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:isolate;white-space:nowrap;font-size:11.2px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">[149] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Isingor_151-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:isolate;white-space:nowrap;font-size:11.2px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">[150] <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">  CNN<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">reported in 2000 that the Grey Wolves with most pro-Chechen stance were those affiliated with the Islamist  Great Union Party<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> (BBP), which had split from MHP in 1993. The article suggested that they "run the mosques and commercial activities in some parts of Istanbul. It is in these mosques, in the suburbs of the city, that offerings are collected after daily prayers for the Chechen refugees. It is money that probably also goes to soldiers on the front lines." <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> According to  Svante Cornell<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> it is "widely believed that the Grey Wolves organised arms shipments to Chechnya, probably with at least the partial knowledge of the Turkish authorities." <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> 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.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">Azerbaijani Grey Wolves also participated in the fight against Russia. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> In January 1995  Kommersant<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> cited the  Federal Counterintelligence Service<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> (FSK) in stating that the Azerbaijani Grey Wolves sent 80 fighters to Chechnya. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Another 270 fighters went to Chechnya in December of that year.

Georgian<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Minister of State Security Valery Khaburdania stated in 2002 that the Grey Wolves were the "conduit of assistance" to the Chechen militants.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-weight:bold;line-height:22.4px;">Crimea

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">According to a report of the independent Russian online newspaper  Svobodnaya Pressa<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">,  Crimean Tatar<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> nationalists "appear[ed] to have begun cooperating" with the Grey Wolves in December 2015. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> According to Russian state-run  Sputnik<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> news agency the Grey Wolves established a presence in southern  Ukraine<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, particularly  Kherson Oblast<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">.

Syria
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">Members of the Grey Wolves have fought in the  Syrian Civil War<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, primarily in support of the  Syrian Turkmen<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, whom they consider kinsmen. MHP and Grey Wolves have provided the  Syrian Turkmen Assembly<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> with relief aid and fighters. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> On 24 November 2015, Turkish Air Force F-16s  shot down<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> a Russian  Sukhoi Su-24M<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> bomber aircraft near the Syria–Turkey border. The pilot was  shot in mid-air parachuting toward land<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> by  Syrian Turkmen<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> rebels under  Syrian Turkmen Brigades<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">. The Turkmen rebel group operated under the command of  Alparslan Celik,<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> a Turkish national and a Grey Wolves member from  Elazığ<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">An Arabic news site picked up a document allegedly issued by the  Army of Conquest<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> which said that it conspired with the  Turkistan Islamic Party<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> and Grey Wolves in the assassination of the Russian Ambassador to Turkey<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> and compared it to what  Suleiman al-Halabi<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> did  in his assassination<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Russian news site TASS cited this in a news report.

Thailand
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">The  2015 Bangkok bombing<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> 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.

Belgium
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">The  Belçika Türk Federasyonu<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> (BTF) is considered to be "affiliated with or sympathetic" to the Grey Wolves. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> According to a 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<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">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. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> During the  municipal elections of 2006<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> two member of the BTF came to the attention of the media: Fuat Korkmazer on the  Flemish Christian Democrats (CD&V)<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> list in  Ghent<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> and Murat Denizli on the  Francophone Socialist Party (PS)<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> list in  Schaerbeek<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, a commune in the Brussels Region. In both cases, political observers saw it as an attempt by Belgian parties to attract far-right Turkish voters in communes where there are numerous Turks, with or without Belgian citizenship. 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.

Türk Ocağı<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> (TO), a cultural organization in Ghent is also linked to the Grey Wolves. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Its chairman, Mehmet Özçelik, is a member of the  Flemish Socialist Party<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> caucus in Berchem<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">. He  denies the Armenian Genocide<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> and is known to have attended a Brussels meeting in honor of the late Alparslan Türkes.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">According to  Paul Beliën<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, the Grey Wolves are "said to have organised the anti-Kurdish riots and raids on Kurdish shops in Brussels in 1994 and 1998."

France
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">In May 1984 Grey Wolves leader  Abdullah Çatlı<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> carried out a  bombing<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> of an Armenian Genocide memorial in  Alfortville<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, a Paris suburb.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">According to  Direction générale de la sécurité intérieure<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> 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. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> According to journalist Jean Eckian, one of the "instigators" Yuzuf Zya Arpacik, had fought in the Karabakh War and against the US forces during the  post-invasion insurgency in Iraq<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">.

Germany
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">As a right-wing extremist group the Grey Wolves are monitored by the German authorities. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> According to  Neues Deutschland<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> the Grey Wolves are the largest far-right organization in Germany by membership as of 2013. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> A 2014  Der Spiegel<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> article estimated their membership to stand at no less than 10,000 people. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Its members have actively engaged in attacks on <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> and clashes with <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">  Kurds in Germany<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">The most important Grey Wolves-affiliated Turkish organization in Germany is  Türk Federasyon<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> (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<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">. 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<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> addressed a crowd of 15,000  German Turks<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> at the  Türk Federasyon<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> annual meeting. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:11.2px;line-height:11.2px;white-space:nowrap;">  <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">Baden-Württemberg Interior Minister  Reinhold Gall<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> stated that  Türk Federasyon<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> is a "melting pot of extreme nationalists with Turkish migrant background". <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">  Türk Federasyon<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> alone has 7,000 active members (for comparison, the neo-Nazi  National Democratic Party<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> (NPD) has 5,000 members). <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> According to educationalist Kemal Bozay, their influence on third generation Turkish youth—who are "looking for an identity"—has "increased significantly".

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">The 2013  Annual Report on the Protection of the Constitution<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> by the  German Federal Ministry of the Interior<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> 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<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">,  batons<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">,  electric stun guns<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> and  Samurai swords<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">" were seized from members of the Grey Wolves.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-weight:bold;line-height:22.4px;">North Rhine-Westphalia

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">The Ministry of the Interior of  North Rhine-Westphalia<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, Germany's most populous state where 70 Grey Wolves associations with more than 2,000 members operated in 2011, <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:11.2px;line-height:11.2px;white-space:nowrap;">  <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">also monitors the organization. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Nevertheless,  Serdar Yüksel<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, a  Social Democratic Party<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> member of the  state's parliament<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, 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<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> march, we immediately organize a counter-demonstration." <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">  Olaf Lehne<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, a  Christian Democratic Union<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> 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.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-weight:bold;line-height:22.4px;">Baden-Württemberg

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">According to the  Baden-Württemberg<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> 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
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">As early as 1979 the Dutch  Scientific Council for Government Policy<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> reported that clashes between the Grey Wolves and the Dutch-Turkish Workers Association (HTIB) occurred on  May Day<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> celebrations. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Organizations such as Turkish Federation Netherlands ( Turkse Federatie Nederland<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, TFN) <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> and Turkish Islamic Federation ( Turks Islamitische Federatie<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">) have links to the Grey Wolves. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> 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 (soccer) 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." <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Grey Wolves activists have participated—with varying successes—in the local politics of several Dutch municipalities.

Sweden
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">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.

Vatican
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">On May 13, 1981  Mehmet Ali Ağca<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, a Grey Wolves member,  attempted<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> on  Pope John Paul II<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">'s life in  St. Peter's Square<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">. The masterminds were not identified and the organization's role remains unclear. According to  Daniel Pipes<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> and  Khalid Duran<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> 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." <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> However, Italian investigators could not establish his link to the Grey Wolves.

Illegal drug trade alllegations
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">Grey Wolves members and leaders have been involved in international drug trafficking since the 1980s. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> 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. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> According  Stephen E. Ambrose<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, 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. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:11.2px;line-height:11.2px;white-space:nowrap;">  <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">According to Peter Dale Scott, the author of the book  American War Machine<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, in 2010 there were drug producing and dealing groups that had clear ties with the Grey Wolves and its affiliated political party, MHP.