Editing Grey Wolves (organization) (section)

{{Short description|Turkish ultra-nationalist political organization}}
{{about|the Turkish political organization|other uses|Grey Wolf (disambiguation)|another Turkish ultra-nationalist organization which uses similar symbolism|Atsız Youth}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox militant organization
| name             = Idealist Hearths Educational<br>and Cultural Foundation
| image            = {{multiple image
 | border = infobox
 | total_width = 320
 | image_gap = 20
 | caption_align = center
 | image1 = Grey Wolves Gokturk Flag.svg
 | image_size = 25
 | caption1 = Flag 
 | image2 = Grey Wolves Logo.svg
 | caption2 = Logo 
 | perrow = 2
 | align  = center
}}
| caption          = 
| native_name      = Ülkü Ocakları Eğitim ve Kültür Vakfı
| native_name_lang = tr
| dates            = {{start date|1968}}–present
| leader           = [[Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Ülkü Ocakları'na yeni başkan atandı |url=https://www.milliyet.com.tr/siyaset/ulku-ocaklarina-yeni-baskan-atandi-6253215 |work=[[Milliyet]] |date=7 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728203139/https://www.milliyet.com.tr/siyaset/ulku-ocaklarina-yeni-baskan-atandi-6253215 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |language=tr}}</ref>
| area             = [[Turkey]],<ref name="Martin-Prager 2019">{{cite book |last1=Martin |first1=Augustus |last2=Prager |first2=Fynnwin |year=2019 |chapter=Part II: The Terrorists – Violent Ideologies: Terrorism From the Left and Right |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f8p-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA302 |title=Terrorism: An International Perspective |location=[[Thousand Oaks, California]] |publisher=[[SAGE Publications]] |page=302 |isbn=9781526459954 |lccn=2018948259 |quote=The Grey Wolves – The most prominent organization of the violent right wing in Turkey is the Grey Wolves. The Grey Wolves are named for a mythical she-wolf who led ancient Turks to freedom. Its wolf's-head symbol is displayed by [[Nationalist Movement Party|MHP]] members and other nationalists. The Grey Wolves have been implicated in many attacks against leftists, Kurds and student organizations. They have also been implicated in attacks supporting the [[Northern Cyprus|Turkish occupation of Cyprus]]. [[Mehmet Ali Ağca]], who was convicted of [[Attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II|shooting Pope John Paul II]], was a known former Grey Wolf. |access-date=17 November 2021 |archive-date=13 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230113184247/https://books.google.com/books?id=f8p-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA302 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="A9-0149/2022">{{cite web |last=Sánchez Amor |first=N. |date=25 May 2022 |title=Document A9-0149/2022: Report on the 2021 Commission Report on Turkey |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-9-2022-0149_EN.html |url-status=live |location=Bruxelles |publisher=[[European Parliament]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220827013558/https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-9-2022-0149_EN.html |archive-date=27 August 2022 }}</ref> [[Northern Cyprus]],<ref name="Martin-Prager 2019"/> [[Western Europe]], [[Syria]], [[Central Asia]], [[China]] ([[Xinjiang]]), [[Azerbaijan]], [[Chechen Republic of Ichkeria]]
| ideology         = {{Collapsible list
| title = List:
| [[Turkish nationalism|Turkish]] [[ultranationalism]]<ref name="A9-0149/2022"/><ref name="Taspinar 2005">{{cite book |last=Taspinar |first=Omer |year=2005 |chapter=The Kurdish Question in Turkish Politics |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RSCBJwBgfDIC&pg=PA92 |title=Kurdish Nationalism and Political Islam in Turkey: Kemalist Identity in Transition |location=[[New York City|New York]] and [[London]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |series=Middle East Studies: History, Politics & Law |pages=92–94 |doi=10.4324/9780203327036 |isbn=9780415512848 |access-date=17 November 2021 |archive-date=13 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230113184249/https://books.google.com/books?id=RSCBJwBgfDIC&pg=PA92 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="ITNetwork">{{cite journal |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |editor-link=Gerry Gable |date=1999 |title=The Grey Wolves |journal=ITNetwork: International Network on Holocaust and Genocide |publisher=Centre for Comparative Genocide Studies, [[Macquarie University]] |volume=14–15 |issue=2 |page=31 |location=[[Sydney]] |issn=1441-8916 |quote=The Grey Wolves (Ulku Ocagi in Turkish) are a group of ultra-right-wing Turkish nationalists whose agenda is rabidly anti-Hellenic, anti-Armenian, anti-Kurdish and anti-Semitic.}}</ref>
| [[Islamokemalism]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.muglagazetesi.com.tr/ulku-ocaklari-ataturk-icin-caldi | title=Ülkü Ocakları Atatürk için çaldı | date=10 November 2020 }}</ref>
| [[Turkish Islamonationalism]]<ref name="ALMo"/><ref name="MENA"/><ref name="mee1"/>
| [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] [[supremacism]]{{refn|<ref name="Taspinar 2005"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/11/24/france-has-banned-the-grey-wolves-but-who-are-they|title=France has banned the 'Grey Wolves' – but who are they?|access-date=12 November 2021|archive-date=12 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112230718/https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/features/2020/11/24/france-has-banned-the-grey-wolves-but-who-are-they|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.counterextremism.com/threat/grey-wolves|title=Grey Wolves|website=Counter Extremism Project|access-date=12 November 2021|archive-date=12 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112230721/https://www.counterextremism.com/threat/grey-wolves|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://trendsresearch.org/insight/the-grey-wolves-erdogans-extremist-arm-in-europe/ |title=TRENDS Research and Advisory - The Grey Wolves: Erdoğan's extremist arm in Europe |publisher=Trendsresearch.org |date= |accessdate=2022-03-08 |archive-date=12 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112232225/https://trendsresearch.org/insight/the-grey-wolves-erdogans-extremist-arm-in-europe/ |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
| [[Neo-fascism]]<ref name="Taspinar 2005"/><ref name="Sullivan"/><ref name="Irish times"/>
| [[Pan-Turkism]]<ref name="Martin-Prager 2019"/><ref name="Hunter"/><br>[[Turanism]]<ref name="Østergaard"/>
| [[Anti-LGBT sentiment]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/ulku-ocaklari-trafodaki-gokkusagina-sprey-sikti-haber-1536134 | title=Ülkü Ocakları, trafodaki gökkuşağına sprey sıktı | date=24 September 2021 | access-date=4 June 2022 | archive-date=24 September 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924090445/https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/ulku-ocaklari-trafodaki-gokkusagina-sprey-sikti-haber-1536134 | url-status=live }}</ref>
| [[Xenophobia]]<ref name="A9-0149/2022"/>
| [[Anti-Shi'ism|Anti-Alevism]]<ref name="Taspinar 2005"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Rabasa|first1=Angel|last2=Larrabee|first2=F. Stephen|title=The Rise of Political Islam in Turkey|year=2008|publisher=[[RAND Corporation]]|location=Santa Monica|isbn=9780833044570|quote=In the 1978 Kahramanmaraş incident, rightwing "Grey Wolves" killed about 100 left-wing activists.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Orhan Kemal Cengiz|author-link=Orhan Kemal Cengiz|title=Why was the commemoration for the Maraş massacre banned? |url=http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist/orhan-kemal-cengiz/why-was-the-commemoration-for-the-maras-massacre-banned_302207.html |work=[[Today's Zaman]] |date=25 December 2012 |quote=This was the beginning of the massacre; later on, angry mobs led by grey wolves scattered into the city, killing and raping hundreds of Alevis. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007145955/http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist/orhan-kemal-cengiz/why-was-the-commemoration-for-the-maras-massacre-banned_302207.html |archive-date=7 October 2015 }}</ref>
| [[Anti-Arab sentiment]]<ref name="via Doğan News Agency">{{cite news|title=Hundreds march against Syrian refugees|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/hundreds-march-against-syrian-refugees.aspx?pageID=238&nID=69122&NewsCatID=341|work=[[Hürriyet Daily News]]|publisher=via [[Doğan News Agency]]|date=14 July 2014|access-date=25 October 2014|archive-date=19 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019083251/http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/hundreds-march-against-syrian-refugees.aspx?pageID=238&nID=69122&NewsCatID=341|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Daily Sabah">{{cite news|last1=Yalçın|first1=Zübeyde|title=Anti-Syrian protests sign of growing tensions in southern Turkey|url=http://www.dailysabah.com/politics/2014/07/22/antisyrian-protests-sign-of-growing-tensions-in-southern-turkey|work=[[Sabah (newspaper)|Daily Sabah]]|issue=21 July 2014|access-date=25 October 2014|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304062815/http://www.dailysabah.com/politics/2014/07/22/antisyrian-protests-sign-of-growing-tensions-in-southern-turkey|url-status=live}}</ref>
| [[Anti-Armenian sentiment]]<ref name="ITNetwork"/>
| [[Anti-Assyrian sentiment]]
| [[Anti-Chinese sentiment]]<ref name="Shimatsu"/><ref name="bbc.com">{{cite news|last1=Girit|first1=Selin|title=China-Turkey relationship strained over Uighurs|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-33440998|agency=[[BBC News]]|date=9 July 2015|access-date=21 June 2018|archive-date=7 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107112243/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-33440998|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Politico">{{cite news|last1=Erdemir|first1=Aykan|last2=Tahiroglu|first2=Merve|title=Turkish Grey Wolves target 'Chinese'|url=http://www.politico.eu/article/turkish-grey-wolves-target-chinese/|work=[[Politico]]|date=30 July 2015|access-date=8 August 2015|archive-date=18 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218050735/https://www.politico.eu/article/turkish-grey-wolves-target-chinese/|url-status=live}}</ref>
| [[Anti-Christian sentiment]]<ref name="ESI">{{cite web|title=Murder in Anatolia: Christian missionaries and Turkish ultranationalism|url=http://www.esiweb.org/pdf/esi_document_id_124.pdf|publisher=[[European Stability Initiative]]|location=Berlin|pages=1–2|date=12 January 2011|quote=Both in Malatya and in Istanbul the local branches of the ultranationalist Grey Wolf youth organisation (Ulku Ocaklari) had also organised demonstrations against Christians.|access-date=25 October 2014|archive-date=9 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809153341/http://www.esiweb.org/pdf/esi_document_id_124.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Turkey's ruling coalition now targets Christians with 'Grey Wolves' terror group|url=https://www.indianarrative.com/world-news/turkey-s-ruling-coalition-now-targets-christians-with-grey-wolves-terror-group-119151.html|date=5 October 2021|publisher=India Narrative|access-date=20 January 2022|archive-date=5 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005055338/https://www.indianarrative.com/world-news/turkey-s-ruling-coalition-now-targets-christians-with-grey-wolves-terror-group-119151.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| [[Anti-Greek sentiment]]<ref name="ITNetwork"/>
| [[Anti-Iranian sentiment]]<ref name="Hunter"/>
| [[Anti-Kurdish sentiment]]<ref name="Martin-Prager 2019"/><ref name="Taspinar 2005"/><ref name="Naylor 2006"/><ref name="ITNetwork"/>
| [[Antisemitism]]<ref name="ITNetwork"/><ref name="2013 report"/><ref name="spiegel"/><ref name="ESI"/><ref name="investigativeproject.org">{{cite web|last1=Vermaat|first1=Emerson|title=Resurgence of Anti-Semitism in Turkey and Amsterdam|url=http://www.investigativeproject.org/2075/resurgence-of-anti-semitism-in-turkey#|publisher=[[Investigative Project on Terrorism]]|date=19 July 2010 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20141025041637/http://www.investigativeproject.org/2075/resurgence-of-anti-semitism-in-turkey%23 |archivedate=25 October 2014}}</ref>
| [[Anti-communism]]{{refn|<ref name="Martin-Prager 2019"/><ref name="Taspinar 2005"/><ref name="Naylor 2006">{{cite book |last=Naylor |first=R. T. |year=2006 |chapter=Striking Out! – Al-Qaida Cells in the Global Petrie Dish |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XnrvAIB4PzkC&pg=PA296 |title=Satanic Purses: Money, Myth, and Misinformation in the War on Terror |location=[[Montreal]] |publisher=[[McGill–Queen's University Press]] |page=296 |isbn=9780773531505 |access-date=17 November 2021 |archive-date=13 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230113184247/https://books.google.com/books?id=XnrvAIB4PzkC&pg=PA296 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Atkins"/><ref name="crisisgroup"/>}}}}
| position         = [[Far-right]]<ref name="Martin-Prager 2019"/><ref name="A9-0149/2022"/><ref name="Taspinar 2005"/><ref name="ITNetwork"/>
| crimes           = [[Massacre]]s, [[assassination]]s, [[bomb]]ings<ref name="Martin-Prager 2019"/><ref name="Taspinar 2005"/><ref name="Lee 1998 LA Times"/>
| attacks          = {{Collapsible list
| title = List:
| 1 May 1977: [[Taksim Square massacre]] (alleged)
| 16 March 1978: [[Beyazıt massacre]]
| 9 October 1978: [[Bahçelievler massacre]]
| December 1978: [[Maraş massacre]]
| 1 February 1979: Assassination of [[Abdi İpekçi]]
| 23 February 1979: Assassination of [[Metin Yüksel]]
| May 1980: [[Çorum massacre]]
| 13 May 1981: [[Attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II]]
| 18 June 1988: Assassination attempt on Prime Minister [[Turgut Özal]]
| 12–15 March 1995: [[Gazi Quarter riots]] (involvement)<ref name="FOOTNOTEZürcherLinden2004130"/>
| 13–17 March 1995: [[1995 Azerbaijani coup d'état attempt|Coup d'état attempt in Azerbaijan]]
| 17 August 2015: [[2015 Bangkok bombing]] (suspected)<ref>{{cite news|title=Thai police look into Turkish connection in Bangkok blast|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-blast-idUSKCN0QW0MY20150827|work=Reuters|date=27 August 2015|quote=...the most likely perpetrators were members of an ultra-nationalist Turkish organization called the Grey Wolves...|access-date=5 July 2021|archive-date=28 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220328155034/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-blast-idUSKCN0QW0MY20150827|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Bangkok telegraph">{{cite news|last1=Sherwell|first1=Philip|title=Bangkok bombing: Was it the Grey Wolves of Turkey?|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/thailand/11832701/Bangkok-bombing-Was-it-the-Grey-Wolves-of-Turkey.html|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=29 August 2015|access-date=21 March 2018|archive-date=5 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220605205301/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/thailand/11832701/Bangkok-bombing-Was-it-the-Grey-Wolves-of-Turkey.html|url-status=live}}</ref>}}
| status           = Active; the Grey Wolves have been banned from [[Azerbaijan]] in 1995<ref name="Kyamal"/> and [[France]] in 2020.<ref name="FranceBan">{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=4 November 2020 |title=France bans Turkish ultra-nationalist Grey Wolves |url=https://www.dw.com/en/france-bans-turkish-ultra-nationalist-grey-wolves-group/a-55503469 |url-status=live |work=[[Deutsche Welle]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230612021852/https://www.dw.com/en/france-bans-turkish-ultra-nationalist-grey-wolves-group/a-55503469 |archive-date=12 June 2023 |access-date=28 June 2023}}</ref>
| size             = {{plainlist|
* Turkey: 3.6% of the electorate are supporters (2014)<ref name="Ergil"/> ≈ 1.9 million{{efn|3.6 per cent amounts to around 1,904,188 individuals if the number of registered voters (52,894,115) for the [[2014 Turkish presidential election#Overall results|2014 presidential election]] is taken into account.}}
* Germany: 7,000 (2015) to 18,000+ (2017)<ref name="bpb">{{cite web |title=Graue Wölfe – die größte rechtsextreme Organisation in Deutschland |url=https://www.bpb.de/politik/extremismus/rechtsextremismus/260333/graue-woelfe-die-groesste-rechtsextreme-organisation-in-deutschland |publisher=[[Federal Agency for Civic Education]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200722040831/https://www.bpb.de/politik/extremismus/rechtsextremismus/260333/graue-woelfe-die-groesste-rechtsextreme-organisation-in-deutschland |archive-date=22 July 2020 |language=de |date=24 November 2017}}</ref>
}}
| financing        = [[Arms trafficking]],<ref name="Naylor 2006"/> [[illegal drug trade]],<ref name="Naylor 2006"/><ref name="Atkins"/><ref name="Lee 1998 LA Times"/> [[extortion]],<ref name="Naylor 2006"/> [[human trafficking]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Naylor|first1=R. T.|title=Economic Warfare: Sanctions, Embargo Busting, and Their Human Cost|date=1999|publisher=Northeastern University Press|location=Boston|isbn=978-1-55553-499-8|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=fkcGKb8jLXMC&dq=grey+wolves+Extortion&pg=PA76 76]|quote=For the next decade [after the 1980 coup] most operations were conducted from Germany. There, sheltering among the large emigre Turkish community, the Grey Wolves raised money from extortion, alien smuggling and heroin trafficking while attacking left-wing and pro-Soviet targets.}}</ref>
| allies           = [[Alperen Hearths]]<br>{{flag|United States}} (in the [[Cold War]])
| opponents        = {{flagicon image|Islamic State flag.svg}} [[Islamic State]] <br>{{flagicon image|Flag of Kurdistan Workers' Party.svg}} [[Kurdistan Workers' Party]]<br>{{flagicon image|Kurdish Hezbollah Flag Red.png}} [[Kurdish Hezbollah]]<br>{{flagicon image|Green Shahada.png}} [[Raiders Organization]]
| designated_as_terror_group_by = {{flagicon image|Flag of Kazakhstan.svg}} [[Kazakhstan]]<ref name="KazakhBan"/>
}}
{{neo-fascism |expanded=movements}}

The '''Grey Wolves''' ({{langx|tr|Bozkurtlar}}),<ref name="A9-0149/2022"/><ref name="Naylor 2006"/><ref name="Jenkins"/> officially known by the short name '''Idealist Hearths''' ({{langx|tr|Ülkü Ocakları}},<ref name="A9-0149/2022"/><ref name="hurriyet 2011"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Benam |first1=Cigdem |title=An Intellectual History of Turkish Nationalism: Between Turkish Ethnicity and Islamic Identity by Umut Uzer (review) |journal=[[The Middle East Journal]] |date=Winter 2017 |volume=71 |issue=1 |pages=165–166 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/647587/summary |quote=...a group called the Idealist Hearths (''Ülkü Ocakları''), widely known as the Grey Wolves (''Bozkurtlar'').}}</ref> {{IPA|tr|ylcy odʒakɫaɾɯ|}}), is a Turkish [[Far-right politics|far-right]] political movement and the youth wing of the [[Nationalist Movement Party]] (MHP).{{refn|<ref name="Martin-Prager 2019"/><ref name="A9-0149/2022"/><ref name="Taspinar 2005"/><ref name="ITNetwork"/><ref name="Naylor 2006"/><ref name="hurriyet 2011">{{cite news|title=Video shows Turkish police singing Grey Wolf march|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=elite-police-force-sings-grey-wolf-marches-2011-04-25|work=[[Hürriyet Daily News]]|date=25 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019081819/http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=elite-police-force-sings-grey-wolf-marches-2011-04-25|archive-date=19 October 2017|quote=The Grey Wolves, also commonly referred to as the Ülkü Ocakları (Idealist Hearths), are a youth organization with close links to the MHP.}} [https://newsturkish.com/elite-police-force-sings-grey-wolf-marches-2011-04-25.html Alt URL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801134527/https://newsturkish.com/elite-police-force-sings-grey-wolf-marches-2011-04-25.html |date=1 August 2020 }}</ref>}} Commonly described as [[ultranationalist]],<ref name="Taspinar 2005"/> [[neo-fascist]],<ref name="Taspinar 2005"/><ref name="Sullivan"/><ref name="Irish times"/> [[Turkish–Islamic synthesis|Islamo-nationalist]]<ref name="ALMo">{{cite web|url=https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/08/turkey-erdogan-tries-to-expand-alliance-with-nationalists.html|title=Why Erdogan must expand his ultranationalist alliances|publisher=[[Al-Monitor]]|date=19 August 2020|access-date=2 November 2020|archive-date=2 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102050229/https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/08/turkey-erdogan-tries-to-expand-alliance-with-nationalists.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="MENA">{{cite web|url=https://mena-studies.org/the-grey-wolves-conquering-europe/|title=The Grey Wolves conquering Europe|publisher=MENA Research & Study Center|date=30 June 2020|access-date=2 November 2020|archive-date=18 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718144205/https://mena-studies.org/the-grey-wolves-conquering-europe/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="mee1">{{cite web|title='Our bodies are Turkish, our souls Islamic!' The rise of Turkey's ultra-nationalists|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/our-bodies-are-turkish-our-souls-islamic-rise-turkeys-ultra-nationalists|access-date=2021-09-30|website=Middle East Eye|language=en|archive-date=12 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212213001/https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/our-bodies-are-turkish-our-souls-islamic-rise-turkeys-ultra-nationalists|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Screws tighten on Gray Wolves, Erdogan's European guard - Al-Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East|url=https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2020/11/turkey-french-ban-grey-wolves-political-islam-nationalists.html|access-date=2021-09-30|website=www.al-monitor.com|date=12 November 2020 |language=en|archive-date=30 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930212413/https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2020/11/turkey-french-ban-grey-wolves-political-islam-nationalists.html|url-status=live}}</ref> (sometimes [[Secularism in Turkey|secular]]),<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bale |first1=Jeffrey M. |title=Definition of Terrorism |url=http://www.miis.edu/academics/researchcenters/terrorism/about/Terrorism_Definition |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130107103419/http://www.miis.edu/academics/researchcenters/terrorism/about/Terrorism_Definition |archive-date=7 January 2013 |website=Monterey Terrorism & Research Education Program |publisher=[[Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey]] |location=[[Middlebury, Vermont]]}}</ref> and [[Xenophobia and discrimination in Turkey|racist]],<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bozay |first1=Kemal |title=Graue Wölfe – die größte rechtsextreme Organisation in Deutschland |trans-title=Grey Wolves - the largest right-wing extremist organisation in Germany |url=https://www.bpb.de/themen/rechtsextremismus/dossier-rechtsextremismus/260333/graue-woelfe-die-groesste-rechtsextreme-organisation-in-deutschland/ |access-date=19 January 2024 |website=Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung |date=24 November 2017 |language=German}}</ref> the Grey Wolves have been described by some scholars, journalists, and governments as a [[death squad]] and a [[terrorist organization]].<ref name="Martin-Prager 2019"/><ref name="Lee 1998 LA Times"/><ref name="Prabha"/><ref name="Slomp">{{cite book|last=Slomp|first=Hans|title=Europe, a Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics, Volume 1|date=2011|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|location=[[Santa Barbara, California]]|isbn=978-0-313-39181-1|page=744|quote=Grey Wolves Turkish terrorist group (Bozkurtlar in Turkish), the youth organization of an extreme right party...}}</ref><ref name="KazakhBan">{{cite web|title=The national list of banned terrorist organizations in Kazakhstan|url=https://egov.kz/cms/en/articles/religion/zaprewennye_ordanizacii|website=egov.kz|quote=II.|access-date=2024-04-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331231111/https://egov.kz/cms/en/articles/religion/zaprewennye_ordanizacii|archive-date=2023-03-31|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Kyamal"/> Its members deny its political nature and claim it to be a cultural and educational foundation,<ref>{{cite news|title=Siirt Ülkü Ocakları Başkanı Yeşilkök|url=http://www.radikal.com.tr/siirt_haber/siirt_ulku_ocaklari_baskani_yesilkok-1223490|work=[[Radikal]]|date=2 November 2011|language=tr|quote=Siirt Ülkü Ocakları Başkanı Abidin Yeşilkök, "Ülkü Ocakları olarak siyasal bir kuruluş değiliz. Ülkü Ocakları Eğitim ve Kültür Vakfıyız" dedi.|access-date=10 November 2014|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924142211/http://www.radikal.com.tr/siirt_haber/siirt_ulku_ocaklari_baskani_yesilkok-1223490|url-status=live}}</ref> citing its full official name: '''Idealist Hearths Educational and Cultural Foundation''' ({{langx|tr|Ülkü Ocakları Eğitim ve Kültür Vakfı}}).<ref name="hurriyet 2005"/>

Established by Colonel [[Alparslan Türkeş]] in the late 1960s, the Grey Wolves rose to prominence during the [[Political violence in Turkey (1976–80)|late 1970s political violence in Turkey]] when its members engaged in [[urban guerrilla warfare]] with left-wing militants and activists.<ref name="Martin-Prager 2019"/><ref name="Taspinar 2005"/><ref name="Naylor 2006"/> Scholars hold it responsible for most of the violence and killings in this period, including the [[Maraş massacre]] in December 1978, which killed over 100 [[Alevism|Alevis]].<ref name="Taspinar 2005"/> They are also alleged to have been behind the [[Taksim Square massacre]] in May 1977, and to have played a role in the [[Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present)|Kurdish–Turkish conflict]] from 1978 onwards. The [[Attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II|attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II in 1981]] by Grey Wolves member [[Mehmet Ali Ağca]]<ref name="Martin-Prager 2019"/> was never formally linked to Grey Wolves leaders, and the organization's role remains unclear.

The organization has long been a prominent suspect in investigations into the [[deep state in Turkey]], and is suspected of having close dealings in the past with the [[Counter-Guerrilla]], the Turkish branch of the NATO [[Operation Gladio]], as well as the [[Turkish mafia]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Goksedef |first1=Ece |title=The ultra-nationalist Turkish mob boss Erdogan can't touch |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/ultra-nationalist-turkish-mob-boss-erdogan-cant-touch |agency=[[Middle East Eye]] |date=15 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626100941/https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/ultra-nationalist-turkish-mob-boss-erdogan-cant-touch |archive-date=26 June 2020}}</ref> Among the Grey Wolves' prime targets are non-Turkish ethnic minorities such as [[Kurds]], [[Greeks]], and [[Armenians]],<ref name="FranceBan" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Mani |first1=B. Venkat |title=On the Question, "what is Turkish-German?" Minority Literatures and the Dialectics of Exclusion |date=2002 |publisher=Stanford University |page=89 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4_YgAQAAIAAJ |quote=while the Grey Wolves target their vendetta against the communists, Greeks, and the Armenians. |access-date=3 November 2020 |archive-date=13 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230113184300/https://www.google.com/books/edition/On_the_Question_what_is_Turkish_German_M/4_YgAQAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> and leftist activists.<ref name="hdpkurds" />

A staunchly [[Pan-Turkism|pan-Turkist]] organization,<ref name="Martin-Prager 2019"/><ref name="Hunter"/><ref name="Østergaard"/> in the early 1990s the Grey Wolves extended their area of operation into the [[post-Soviet states]] with Turkic and Muslim populations. Up to thousands of its members fought in the [[First Nagorno-Karabakh War]] on the Azerbaijani side, and the [[First Chechen War|First]] and [[Second Chechen War|Second]] [[Chechen–Russian conflict|Chechen–Russian Wars]] on the Chechen side. After an unsuccessful [[1995 Azerbaijani coup d'état attempt|attempt to seize power in Azerbaijan in 1995]], they were banned in that country.<ref name="Kyamal"/> In 2005, [[Kazakhstan]] also banned the organization, classifying it as a terrorist group.<ref name="KazakhBan"/>

The organization is also active in [[Northern Cyprus]],<ref name="Martin-Prager 2019"/> and has affiliated branches in [[Western Europe]]an nations with a significant [[Turkish diaspora]] such as [[Germany]], [[Belgium]] and the [[Netherlands]]. They are the largest right-wing extremist organization in Germany.<ref name="bpb"/> The Grey Wolves were banned in [[France]] in November 2020 for [[hate speech]] and [[political violence]],<ref name="FranceBan"/> and calls for similar actions are made elsewhere. In May 2021, the [[European Parliament]] also called on member states of the [[European Union]] to designate it as a [[Terrorism in Europe|terrorist group]].<ref name="A9-0149/2022"/>

While it was characterized as the MHP's [[paramilitary]] or [[militant]] wing during the [[Political violence in Turkey (1976–1980)|1976-1980 political violence in Turkey]],{{refn|<ref name="Naylor 2006"/><ref name="Atkins"/><ref name="crisisgroup"/><ref name="Economist 1999"/><ref name="Combs"/>}} under [[Devlet Bahçeli]], who assumed the leadership of the MHP and Grey Wolves after Türkeş's death in 1997, the organization claims to have reformed.<ref name="Birand 2006"/> According to a 2021 poll, the Grey Wolves are [[#Base|supported by]] 3.2% of the Turkish electorate.