Turkey infuriated by Austria’s ban of a salute highly recognized by Ankara, the “Grey Wolves”

A POSSIBLE diplomatic row may erupt between Turkey and Austria over a symbol act the latter passed recently.

Ankara has come out guns blazing against Austria intention to ban the political salute known as “Grey Wolves,” normally practised by the Turkish Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).

The ban will happen under Austria’s new “Symbol Act”, adopted by the Austrian parliament and to take effect from the beginning of next month.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Thursday it was unacceptable to see the Turkish nationalist sign in the blacklisted symbols of “extremist organizations” in Austria.

In a statement, the Ministry said: “We do not accept this and we strongly condemn it.”

The Central European country is putting a ban on the flags and symbols for thirteen political organizations across the world, including the Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah, and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has fought a decades-old insurgency within Turkey.

The Turkish foreign ministry described Wien’s move as “utterly scandalous,” and denounced its new law and by putting a Turkish nationalist sign in the same list with symbols of the outlawed Kurdish PKK.

“It is also a concerning indicator of the level of populism reached in Austria,” the pointed and lashing out statement said.

Ankara called on the Austrian government to “correct this mistake,” arguing this “deeply offends bilateral relations between the two countries.”

The Grey Wolves are connected to the ultra-nationalist MHP, the fourth biggest party in Turkish Parliament with 49 lawmakers following the Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP), allies of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party in elections, giving full support to Turkish government’s fight against PKK.

The party has thousands of followers in Turkey and Turks living in Europe, including Austria.

Anyone who displays the Grey Wolf salute, along with other banned symbols or banners in public would be fined between 4 000-10 000 Euros, according to Kronen Zeitung.

“With this irrational and senseless decision, Austria has targeted not only the political party and its supporters who use this symbol, but also the institution of politics and the base of legal politics as a whole,” the Turkish foreign ministry concluded as it strongly criticised the new legislation adopted by the consensus of rightwing parties in Austria.

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from IPA NEWS https://ipa.news/2019/02/15/turkey-infuriated-by-austrias-ban-of-a-salute-highly-recognized-by-ankara-the-grey-wolves/