The wolf salute

The wolf salute, the grey wolf salute or the grey wolf gesture (Turkish: Bozkurt işareti) is a Turkish nationalist and Pan-Turkic hand symbol, linked to the far-right Grey Wolves political movement. The gesture is banned in France and Austria.[1][2][3][4][5]

Usage

Although it is commonly associated with the MHP and Grey Wolves, it is also used by other Turkish politicians. CHP Leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu once greeted his supporters with a gray wolf on his way to a rally in Kayseri for the 2017 Turkish constitutional referendum. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reacted to it by saying "The gray wolf sign made by the CHP leader cannot be erased from my memory", and Kılıçdaroğlu responded back with "We are also nationalists, we are also nationalists."[6] Kılıçdaroğlu made the sign again during an election rally in Eskişehir, where he responded with a wolf salute to a supporter who had greeted him with the same gesture.[7]

Meral Akşener, a former member of the MHP and current leader of the Good Party, also frequently makes the symbol on many occasions.[8][9]

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sparked controversy in 2018 when he briefly made the gesture at a rally in Mersin, before changing it to the four-fingered Rabia sign. Many saw it as a deliberate attempt to get votes from Turkish nationalists.[10] Other AKP politicians to have flashed the sign are Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu[4] and former Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım,[11] who later claimed that he was of Kurdish origin, contradicting the Wolf salute.[12]

Criticism

The salute is frequently criticised by Islamists who view nationalism as un-Islamic. It has also been criticised by İbrahim Korkmaz, an AKP politician, who described the symbol as "against the spirit of Islam" because "Gagauz Christians also use it".[13][14][15]

Legality

Troops of the Syrian National Army in 2019, the member on the left does the wolf salute.

Austria banned the gesture in 2019, and France in 2020.[16][1] Many German politicians from both the right-wing and left-wing have proposed to ban the wolf salute.[17]

In Germany, the usage of the silent fox signal in education (indicating for students to be quiet) was reported in 2011 as having decreased due to it being the same gesture as the wolf salute.[18]

Online use

The "sign of the horns" emoji (U+1F918 🤘) is mostly used to represent the wolf salute on social media and the internet.

References

  1. 1 2 Keddie, Patrick. "France has banned the 'Grey Wolves' – but who are they?". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
  2. ↑ "Germany seeks to ban Turkish far-right symbols – DW – 10/09/2018". dw.com. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
  3. ↑ Göbel, Phil (2018-10-10). "Wolfsgruß: Dieses Zeichen wollen einige Politiker verbieten. Was bedeutet er?". Der Spiegel (in German). ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
  4. 1 2 "Plötzliche Empörung über faschistischen Wolfsgruß". www.fr.de (in German). 2018-10-10. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
  5. ↑ Jacinto, Leela (2017-04-24). "Can the 'She-Wolf' Who Rejected the Harem Take On Sultan Erdogan?". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
  6. ↑ "Bozkurt işaretinin anlamı nedir? İlk kim yaptı? - Gündem Haberleri". www.posta.com.tr. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
  7. ↑ "Kılıçdaroğlu'ndan bozkurt selamı" (in Turkish). 25 April 2023.
  8. ↑ "'Bozkurt' işareti yapan İYİ Parti Genel Başkanı Meral Akşener: 'Partimizi çok zor kurduk ama kalıcı kıldık'". www.yerelingundemi.com (in Turkish). Retrieved 2023-01-28.
  9. ↑ "Meral Akşener Bozkurt İşareti yaptı! Önce kendisi yazdı sonra kendisi bozdu". Son Havadis (in Turkish). 2022-08-31. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
  10. ↑ "Erdoğan'dan Mersin'de bozkurt selamı". Takvim (in Turkish). Retrieved 2023-01-28.
  11. ↑ "Başbakan Binali Yıldırım Bozkurt İşareti Yaptı". Bianet.
  12. ↑ "Başbakan Binali Yıldırım: Benim de geçmişim Kürt".
  13. ↑ "'Bozkurt işareti İslam'a aykırı' diyen eski AK Partili vekil ülkücüleri kızdırdı". www.gazeteduvar.com.tr. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
  14. ↑ "AKP'li vekil, "Bozkurt işaretini Hristiyan Gagavuzlar kullanıyor" demişti; Ülkü Ocakları tepki gösterdi". T24 (in Turkish). Retrieved 2023-05-05.
  15. ↑ "AKP'li eski vekil: Bozkurt işareti İslam'ın ruhuna aykırı". birgun.net. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
  16. ↑ "Austria: Ban on Turkish nationalist salute in practice". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
  17. ↑ "Germany Seeks to Ban Turkish 'Gray Wolves' Far-Right Symbols | Wolf Song of Alaska". wolfsongalaska.org. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
  18. ↑ Grundschulen: „Frau Herber, du, guck mal“. In: Frankfurter Rundschau, 16. Februar 2011.
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