Recently, Turkish fascists, organized under the names of “Idealists” or “Gray Wolves”, have begun to threaten the security of European countries. French government took the decision to ban the Ülkücüler (Idealists), the paramilitary force of the AKP-MHP government, involved in many violent incidents, after the lynching attacks against Armenians in Dijons, France on 29 October 2020.

On 18 November 2020, the Christian Union parties (CDU / CSU) and the Social Democrats Party (SPD), which form the coalition government in Germany, as well as the Green Party and the Free Democrats Party (FDP), introduced a draft law that paves the way for the ban on the “Idealists” movement. Despite these measures taken by European countries, the federal German government under Angela Merkel's prime minister allowed Turkish fascist groups to be still operative.

Responding to the motion of the Free Democrats Party (FDP), one of the opposition parties in the Federal Parliament, the Merkel government reported that the far-right Turkish groups were engaged in activities to influence public opinion and politics. The current issue of Die Welt newspaper confirmed that Turkish fascists were trying to infiltrate the decision-making German political authorities.

Organised under the banner of ‘multiculturalism’

The Federal Government pointed out that Turkish fascist groups are very interested in local politics and added that these groups are trying to hide themselves behind claims of "interculturalism" and "multiculturalism". In addition, the government also has information on candidates linked to Turkish fascist circles in the local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) last September.

The government response said that the Politics, Economy and Society Research Foundation (SETA), one of the proxy institutions of AKP, works in connection with the Turkish government. "This organization publishes the views of the Turkish government in German presenting them as scientific and research." In 2019, SETA published a detailed report targeting Kurds and opponents of the Erdogan regime in Europe.

Legal barriers to outright ban

Die Welt newspaper reported that the Merkel government is not in favor of a ban against the “Idealists”, despite the decision taken in the Federal Assembly. It was stated that the German security units have claimed that there are legal obstacles to the ban on the group, which has committed many violent and hate crimes against the Kurds, Armenians and Jews in recent years.

However, it is noteworthy that the same government and security units quickly banned the legal organizations of the Kurds despite not being connected to any violence.

In February 2019, Mesopotamia Publishing House and Mir Music, two important cultural institutions of the Kurds in the country, were banned upon the orders of the Minister of Interior Horst Seehofer. The German police closed both institutions and seized thousands of books,  including Kurdish-German dictionaries, as well as Kurdish music albums.

At least 170 organisations linked to the AKP-MHP

Some 170 associations are organized under the umbrella of the German Democratic Idealist Turkish Associations Federation (ADÜTDF). It is estimated that 7,000 nationalists are members of these associations. According to the German internal intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the nationalist members are over 10,000. Despite the frequent reports by the intelligence that the “Idealists” movement threatens the country's internal security, the government does not take any serious measures.