Germany and Turkey clash over football player’s nationalist wolf salute

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser declared that “symbols of Turkish right-wing extremists have no place in our stadiums.”

“Using the European football championship as a platform for racism is completely unacceptable,” she said, and called on UEFA to “investigate the case and consider sanctions.”

She added that Germany’s “security authorities are keeping a close eye on Turkish right-wing extremists in Germany,” and that the Grey Wolves “are under observation” by federal authorities.

The Grey Wolves rose to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s and played a role in a number of massacres and assassinations in Turkey. In 2021, the European Parliament called on EU member countries to ban the group.

Berlin’s criticism triggered a harsh response from Ankara, with Ömer Çelik, the spokesperson for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Turkey’s former minister for EU affairs, calling it and UEFA’s investigation “unacceptable.”

“Those looking for racism and fascism would do well to focus on the recent election results in different countries in Europe,” he said on Wednesday, referring to the far right’s surging popularity across the Continent.