A man wearing a Turkish officer's uniform flashes the Grey Wolves sign in Syria. AFP
A man wearing a Turkish officer's uniform flashes the Grey Wolves sign in Syria. AFP
A man wearing a Turkish officer's uniform flashes the Grey Wolves sign in Syria. AFP
A man wearing a Turkish officer's uniform flashes the Grey Wolves sign in Syria. AFP

Turkey vows to protect Turks in France after Grey Wolves banned


Simon Rushton
  • English
  • Arabic

Turkey has vowed to deliver a firm response to France's decision to disband the Turkish ultra-nationalist Grey Wolves group.

"We stress the need to protect the freedom of assembly and expression of Turks in France … and will respond in the firmest way possible to this decision," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

The Grey Wolves are regarded as an influential wing of a party allied to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The French Cabinet formally disbanded the local offshoot of the group after a memorial centre to the mass killing of Armenians during the First World War was defaced at the weekend with graffiti, including the name of the Grey Wolves.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin tweeted that the group "incites discrimination and hatred, and is implicated in violent actions".

Weeks of tension between France and Turkey reached a peak after the beheading of a French schoolteacher who showed his pupils cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

After Samuel Paty's death, President Emmanuel Macron delivered a defence of free speech, including the right to mock religion, prompting Mr Erdogan to insult his mental health.

France responded by recalling its ambassador to Ankara for consultations.

In Turkey, the Grey Wolves are closely linked to the Nationalist Movement Party of Devlet Bahceli, which has a political alliance with Mr Erdogan's Justice and Development Party.

if you go

The flights 

Etihad and Emirates fly direct to Kolkata from Dh1,504 and Dh1,450 return including taxes, respectively. The flight takes four hours 30 minutes outbound and 5 hours 30 minute returning. 

The trains

Numerous trains link Kolkata and Murshidabad but the daily early morning Hazarduari Express (3’ 52”) is the fastest and most convenient; this service also stops in Plassey. The return train departs Murshidabad late afternoon. Though just about feasible as a day trip, staying overnight is recommended.

The hotels

Mursidabad’s hotels are less than modest but Berhampore, 11km south, offers more accommodation and facilities (and the Hazarduari Express also pauses here). Try Hotel The Fame, with an array of rooms from doubles at Rs1,596/Dh90 to a ‘grand presidential suite’ at Rs7,854/Dh443.

Ipaf in numbers

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