Turkish - US relations are going from bad to worse, with the United States now considering classifying the Turkish group "Grey Wolves" as a terrorist organisation in another blow to President Erdogan's credibility and alliance with Devlet Bahçeli, who assumed the leadership of the MHP and Grey Wolves in 1997.
The spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Tanju Bilgic, said that "the inclusion in the US National Defense Act of 2022, which was approved by the House of Representatives of the clause requiring the preparation of a report by the US State Department on whether the Gray Wolves is a terrorist organization, was met with regret".
"Although the final text of the law has not yet been passed, it is extremely sad and disturbing that such a request, which contains baseless allegations and does not fit into our deep alliance with the United States, has been accepted by part of the US Congress." responded the Turkish foreign ministry.
It is noted that the Grey Wolves were banned in France on November 2020 for hate speech and violence, and calls for similar actions are made in Germany and the Netherlands. On May 2021, the European Parliament also called all 27 member states of the European Union to designate it as a terrorist group.
About the Grey Wolves
The Grey Wolves (Turkish: Bozkurtlar), officially known as Idealist Hearths is a Turkish far-right organisation and movement affiliated with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Commonly described as ultra-nationalistic, Islamistic and neo-fascist, it is a youth organisation that has been characterized as MHP's paramilitary or militant wing.
Its members deny its political nature and claim it to be a cultural and educational foundation, as per its full official name: Ülkü Ocakları Eğitim ve Kültür Vakfı (Idealist Clubs Educational and Cultural Foundation). (source: Wiki)
