Turkey’s ambassador to Germany has been summoned to the Berlin foreign ministry over a right-wing extremist “wolf salute” after Turkish footballer Merih Demiral’s goal celebration at the European Championships became the subject of a diplomatic exchange.
A day after the German ambassador to Turkey was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Ankara and the Turkish government accused Berlin of “xenophobia” over his criticism, a spokesman for the German foreign ministry said it urged Ahmed Basar San to explain the gesture. and take steps to prevent its further use.
According to Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Gray Wolf is classified as a right-wing extremist group in Germany with between 18,500 and 20,000 members, making it the third largest organization after the Alternative für Deutschland. two major right-wing extremist organizations).
However, unlike neighboring Austria and France, neither the group nor the symbol has been banned in Germany, despite years of debate about doing so.
Demiral gave the wolf salute after scoring in Turkey’s last-16 match against Austria, which Turkey won 2-1.
Turks are the largest single ethnic minority in Germany – 1.54 million – and there are 1.4 million German citizens of Turkish origin – the largest Turkish diaspora. The success of the national team in the European Cup aroused a warm response from the people of Turkey.
German Interior Minister Nancy Feser condemned the move, writing on X: “It is completely unacceptable to use a football tournament as a platform for racism.”
She called on European football’s governing body UEFA to investigate and consider sanctions against the Turkish team. UEFA said it was investigating but had not made a decision as of Thursday afternoon.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a last-minute adjustment to his travel plans, allowing him to fly to Berlin en route to Azerbaijan for a four-point appearance with the national team, German and Turkish media reported on Thursday lunchtime. One final against the Netherlands on Saturday night. Insiders say Erdogan made the decision in response to the fallout from Demila’s tribute, telling his advisers he wanted to support the team.
The wolf salute is the symbol and identification mark of the gray wolf, representing the wolf’s head: the index and little fingers form the ears, and the thumb, middle and ring fingers form the nose.
Extremism experts say the Gray Wolves’ worldview is hard-line nationalist and Islamist, showing hatred for Kurds, Jews, Christians, Armenians, Greeks, the European Union and the United States. The group’s history of terrorism dates back to the 1970s and has been blamed for bomb attacks in Paris and Bangkok and the 1981 assassination of Pope John Paul II.
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Its founder, Alparslan Türkes, said of the salute: “The little finger symbolizes the Turks, the index finger symbolizes Islam, and the ring (or nose) symbolizes the world. The point where the remaining three fingers are connected is a Seal. This means: We will put the stamp of Turkish Islam on the world.
The Turks founded the nationalist movement The party governs Türkiye alongside Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party.
Demiral said of the move: “Of course, I’m happy to have scored two goals. The way I celebrate is related to my Turkish identity. I’ve seen spectators make this gesture. We are all Turkish .I am very proud to be Turkish. This is what this gesture means.
“I wish I had more opportunities to do something like this. There’s no hidden message in it, I just want to show how happy I am and how blessed I am.
