Football fans from Turkey have called on fans who will be at the stadium in Berlin on Saturday, July 6, during the match between Turkey and the Netherlands, to perform the so-called “wolf salute”. Spectators are asked to demonstrate this gesture during the playing of the Turkish national anthem.
“Now the whole world will watch a live broadcast of 50,000 people making the grey wolf sign! And let them try to ban it!” one user wrote in the comments.
In the last match, Turkish national team player Merih Demiral celebrated scoring a goal against Austria by showing “wolf greeting”. This gesture is used by Turkish pro-extremists from the group “Gray wolves”who adhere to an ideology of racial superiority. Following this incident, UEFA suspended Demiral for the next two matches.
Ankara has not officially condemned the footballer's gesture – on the contrary, the Turkish Foreign Ministry called the UEFA investigation against Demiral unacceptable. Turkish ultras, in turn, claim that the “wolf salute” is a “national symbol of the Turkish people” that has nothing to do with racism.
In Germany, the Ülkücü movement, whose members use the “wolf salute,” is monitored by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. In Turkey, the salute is used, for example, by the ultra-nationalist Nationalist Movement Party, which is considered a partner of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's government.
Amid the Demiral scandal, the Turkish president announced his visit to Berlin for the quarter-finals on Saturday.
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