Turkiye summons Germany ambassador in protest against reactions to football player’s ‘Grey Wolves’ hand gesture

Turkiye yesterday summoned Germany’s ambassador over a row that erupted following a Turkish footballer’s use of an alleged right-wing ultranationalist political symbol during a match this week.

At the match between Turkiye and Austria during the ongoing Euro 2024 games, Turkish defender, Merih Demiral, made a hand symbol referring to the ‘Grey Wolves’ after scoring a goal.

The Grey Wolves, branded as the militant wing of Turkiye’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), is regarded as an ultranationalist right-wing organisation, and has been banned in some European nations, such as France and Austria.

It has not been banned in Germany, however, but that did not stop the German Interior Minister, Nancy Faeser, from condemning Demiral’s hand signs and warning that “the symbols of Turkish right-wing extremists have no place in our stadiums”. She claimed that the use of the gesture at the ongoing championships as making the games “a platform for racism”, calling it “completely unacceptable”.

The issue also prompted the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) to launch a probe for “inappropriate behaviour”.

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Many Turks have since condemned the German and UEFA complaints, however, insisting that the hand gesture does not necessarily and always refer to the Grey Wolves as an organisation, but as a general symbol of the Turks, Turkish pride and Turkic mythology.

Turkiye has especially condemned the reactions to the player’s gesture, calling them “xenophobic”, with the Turkish Foreign Ministry yesterday summoning Germany’s ambassador to express its concerns.

“The reactions shown to Mr Demiral by the German authorities are itself xenophobia,” it stated. “We condemn the politically motivated reactions to the use of a historical and cultural symbol in a way that does not target anyone during the celebration at a sports event.”

The ministry also noted that even Germany’s domestic intelligence service had reportedly emphasised in a report that “not every person making the Grey Wolves sign can be described as a far-right extremist”.

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