Turkish nationalism a threat to German homeland security

While the repercussions of the murder of former grey wolves continue in Turkey, a new analysis published by the domestic intelligence agency about the Nationalist Movement in Germany highlighted an imminent threat by the extreme right outside of Turkey as well, DW Turkish said.

An analysis published under the title "Turkish extreme right in Germany" on the website of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany's domestic intelligence unit, noted that the tendency towards violence in the Nationalist Movement poses a threat to internal security in Germany.

THE NATIONALIST IDEOLOGY IS SEEN AS A THREAT

"The far right constitutes one of the biggest threats to the liberal democratic order in Germany," said the BfV analysis, adding that "Turkish Nationalist Movement" was also seen in this context.

According to the analysis, the ideology of the Nationalist Movement embodies the main features of movements that are hostile to certain communities, such as extreme nationalism, racism and anti-Semitism.

The analysis highlighted the movment’s roots in Turanism and Pan-Turkism:

"The ideological spectrum of the movement ranges from nationalist Kemalism to Islamists. The ideology includes exaggerated nationalist elements as well as antisemitic and racist far-right elements."

BfV said with the "Turan" target, the Gray Wolves see Turkishness as a "superior nationality and culture", and said: "This ideal of superiority is accompanied by the humiliation of those alleged to be anti-Turkish, such as Armenians, Greeks, Jews or the Kurds."

The analysis of the German domestic intelligence service said that those who support the Nationalist Movement showed a tendency towards violence they were prone to getting arms.

THE STRUCTURES OF ORGANIZATION OF THE NATIONALISTS IN GERMANY

The analysis also scrutinized the structure of the Nationalists in Germany and said that the “Ulkuculer, a.k.a the Gray Wolves, had approximately 11 thousand supporters in Germany, and the majority of them were organized under the roof of three main associations.

These were listed as the Federation of German Democratic Nationalist Turkish Associations (ADUTDF) with 7 thousand members, the European Union of Turkish-Islamic Associations (ATIB) with 1200 members, and the European Federation of the Order of the World (ANF) with 1200 members.

Pointing out that some of these associations were the organizations of ultra-nationalist Turkish parties abroad, the article said that these "Associations create a divisive effect by spreading the 'ideological' ideology and encourage Turkish nationalism, which includes extreme right-wing elements."

MODERATE ON THE OUTSIDE, EXTREME RIGHT IN REALITY

The analysis also said that the members of the association consciously avoided using the nationalist symbols, they tried to comply with the German laws, not to commit a crime and not to be provoked by their opponents, and "are trying to reflect themselves to the outside in a moderate and inconspicuous way".

The analysis, while the sports, music and cultural activities of these associations do not have an extremist character, they help win people and make them adopt the extreme rightist ideology over time.

UNCONDITIONAL LOYALTY TO THE CURRENT POLITICAL LEADERSHIP

the BfV analysis also shared that there are approximately 1600 Nationalists in Germany who are not members of umbrella organizations, are not affiliated with any association, or join and leave short-lived, small-scale groups.

These people, the analysis said, were mostly composed of young people, more aggressive towards the outside and they were in contact with each other through social media, as they provoked hostility towards those they saw as "enemy", declaring them as "enemy of Turkishness".

In the analysis, it was also stated that these young groups showed an almost unconditional loyalty to the Turkish state and its current leadership in this environment.

VIOLENCE AS A THREAT

In a section titled, "The tendency to violence threatens Germany's internal security," the analysis said: "The use of violence has already been legitimized by Nationalist leaders such as Nihal Atsiz and is approved as a tool that serves the purpose until today and Gray Wolves, founded by Alparslan Turkes started to commit political murders as of 1968.”

According to German domestic intelligence, more than 600 people were killed by members of this movement by 1980.

BfV noted that the nationalists still have a great interest in weapons, and that they share their images as armed fighters on their internet posts and said this could also affect the security situation in Germany, and the tensions with the Nationalists during the protests organized by some Kurdish groups or PKK supporters were cited as an example.

RABIA SIGN, BOZKURT SALUTE AND OTHER SYMBOLS

The analysis shared information about the music that the nationalists listened to, the TV series they watched, such as Kurtlar Vadisi and Boru, and gave detailed information about the symbols they used and many subjects such as the Bozkurt salute, including visuals.

The analysis noted that the Rabia sign, which was used frequently by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was also used as a hand sign used by the nationalists.