On this day in 1984, a memorial to the Armenian genocide in Paris was attacked by an alleged member of the Turkish terrorist group Grey Wolves resulting in 13 injuries.
Tag: Grey Wolves
The “Grey Wolves” (Turkish terrorist organization)
The “Grey Wolves” (Turkish: Bozkurtlar), officially known as Ülkü Ocakları, is a Turkish far-right ultranationalist political party. The group is known for having racist and xenophobic attitudes. They are commonly described as ultranationalist and/or neo-fascist. A youth organization with close links to the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), it has been described as MHP’s paramilitary or militant wing. Its members deny its political nature and claim it to be a cultural and education foundation, as per its full official name: Ülkü Ocakları Eğitim ve Kültür Vakfı (Idealist Clubs Educational and Cultural Foundation).
Established by Colonel Alparslan Türkeş in the late 1960s, it rose to prominence during the late 1970s political violence in Turkey when its members engaged in urban guerrilla warfare with left-wing activists and militants. Scholars have described it as a death squad, responsible for most of the violence and killings in this period. Their most notorious attack, which killed over 100 Alevis, took place in Maraş in December 1978. They are also alleged to have been behind the Taksim Square massacre on May Day, 1977.
Due to these attacks, the Grey Wolves have been described by some scholars, journalists, and governments as a terrorist organization. The organization has long been a prominent suspect in investigations into the Turkish “deep state”, and is suspected of having had close dealings in the past with the Counter-Guerrilla, the Turkish branch of the NATO Operation Gladio.
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