Turkey vows to respond in firmest way possible to French ban on Grey Wolves
The Turkish Foreign Ministry on Wednesday criticized France's controversial move to ban an alleged Turkish nationalist group, saying: "Turkey will react to this decision in the harshest way. France ignores the rising incitement of the fanatical Armenian diaspora within its borders, as well as threats and attacks targeting Turkish people and diplomatic missions in recent months."
- World
- Agencies and A News
- Published Date: 12:23 | 05 November 2020
- Modified Date: 12:27 | 05 November 2020
Turkey vowed Wednesday to deliver a firm response to France's ban of the Turkish nationalist Grey Wolves group linked to Turkey's Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
Turkey and France have been at odds in recent times due to the neo-colonialist and anti-Islamic policies of the Macron administration.
The Turkish foreign ministry said the French government had to "protect the freedom of assembly and expression of Turks in France".
"We will respond in the firmest way possible to this decision," it said.
The French cabinet formally disbanded the Turkish nationalist group's local offshoot after a memorial centre built for so-called Armenian genocide was sprayed with the slogans and graffitis in protest of the deadly attacks on Azerbaijani civilians amid border clashes over the occupied Upper Karabakh region.
The Grey Wolves was a nickname given to members of a fringe Turkish movement that emerged in the 1960s and 70s.
The foreign ministry said that banning it showed "the French government is now completely under Armenian influence," and accused Paris of "double standards" and "hypocrisy" because it allows the bloody-minded PKK and other groups to be active in France.
In its statement, the foreign ministry denied the very existence of the Grey Wolves, saying France was "dealing with an imaginary formation".
It accused the French government of ignoring "incitements, threats and attacks" against Turks in France.
France's Grey Wolves ban came against the backdrop of heightened tension between the country's Armenian and Turkish communities over the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Turkey has strongly backed its ally Baku in the fighting over the region that is part of Azerbaijan but has been occupied by the Armenian side since a 1990s war that claimed 30,000 lives.
Four French citizens of Turkish descent got injured outside Lyon last week after being assaulted by a pro-Armenian group during a road-blocking protest held in support of Armenian occupiers that joined the Karabakh fighting with Azerbaijan.
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