Turkey’s ambassador to Germany has been summoned to the foreign ministry in Berlin over the rightwing extremist “wolf salute” displayed by the Turkish footballer Merih Demiral, as his goal celebration at the European Championship became the subject of diplomatic exchange.
Ahmet Başar Şen was urged to explain the gesture and take measures to prevent its further use, a ministry spokesperson said, the day after Germany’s ambassador to Turkey was summoned to the foreign ministry in Ankara as Turkey’s government accused Berlin of “xenophobia” over its criticism of the symbol associated with the Grey Wolves group.
The Grey Wolves are classified as a rightwing extremist group with 18,500 to 20,000 members in Germany, making it the second-biggest rightwing extremist organisation after Alternative für Deutschland, according to the domestic intelligence agency, the federal office for the protection of the constitution (BfV).
However, neither the group nor the symbol are banned in Germany, unlike in neighbouring Austria and France, despite years of debate about doing so.
Demiral displayed the wolf salute after scoring in Turkey’s round of 16 match against Austria, which his team won 2-1.
Turks make up the largest single ethnic minority in Germany – 1.54 million in addition to 1.4 million German citizens who are of Turkish descent – the largest single Turkish diaspora. The national team’s success in the Euros has triggered a rapturous response by Turks across the country.
Germany’s interior minister, Nancy Faeser, condemned the gesture, writing on X: “To use the football championships as a platform for racism is completely unacceptable.”
She called on the European football governing body, Uefa, to investigate and consider imposing sanctions on the Turkish team. Uefa has said it is investigating but by Thursday afternoon had yet to make a decision.
According to reports on Thursday lunchtime in German and Turkish media, Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has made a last-minute adjustment to his travel plans to allow him to fly to Berlin en route to Azerbaijan, to attend the national team’s quarter-final against the Netherlands on Saturday evening. Erdoğan was said by insiders to have made the decision in reaction to the fallout from the Demiral salute, telling his advisers he wanted to give the team his backing.
The wolf salute is the symbol and identifying logo of the Grey Wolves, representing the head of a wolf: forefinger and little finger forming the ears, the thumb, middle and ring fingers forming the snout.
Experts in extremism say the worldview of the Grey Wolves is hardline nationalist and Islamist, with hatred shown to Kurds, Jews, Christians, Armenians, Greeks, the EU and the US. The group, which has a long history of terrorism going back to the 1970s, has been blamed for bomb attacks in Paris and Bangkok and the 1981 attempt on the life of Pope John Paul II.
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Its founder, Alparslan Türkes, said of the salute: “The little finger symbolises the Turks, the index finger symbolises Islam, the ring – or snout – symbolises the world. The point where the remaining three fingers join is a stamp. It means: we will put the Turkish-Islamic stamp on the world.”
Türkes founded the Nationalist Movement party, which governs Turkey with Erdoğan’s Justice and Development party.
Demiral said of the gesture: “Of course I was very happy to have scored two goals. How I celebrated has something to do with my Turkish identity. I had seen members of the audience making this gesture. We are all Turks. I’m very proud to be a Turk. That is the meaning of the gesture.
“I hope I’ll have more opportunities to make this gesture. There is no hidden message in it, I simply wanted to show how joyful I was and how happy I am.”