Scandal at the Euro Cup due to a fascist gesture. The Turkish star insulted the Armenians and not only
Konstantin Krinsky July 3, 2024, 20:45 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Merih Demiral is in trouble. How will UEFA punish a footballer?
In the round of 16 of Euro 2024, the Turkish national team produced a powerful thriller against Austria and reached the quarter-finals. This was one of the best matches of the tournament. But something clouded it – or rather, someone.
Merih Demiral, one of the team’s key defenders, made the gesture of the Grey Wolves, an ultra-nationalist party linked to extremism, after the victory over Turkey. The gesture shown by the player is directly associated with the organisation, so this action can be considered political and even racist.
Bozkurt or Grey Wolves is a Turkish nationalist youth organization. It was founded in the late 1960s on the initiative of Colonel Alparslan Türkeş under the patronage of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), with which it is sometimes identified. It was actively involved in the political violence of the 1970s and operated within the framework of the international anti-communist Gladio system. The organization’s militants were accused of several murders and terrorist acts, including an attempt on the life of Pope John Paul II. Since the 1990s, it has focused on fighting the Kurdish national movement and ethno-confessional minorities, as well as terrorist attacks on anti-Turkish and anti-Greek grounds.
Why did the scandal break out in the media and social networks? The ideology of the “Grey Wolves” echoes the ideas of Hitler’s Germany and Italy during the time of Benito Mussolini. It is also important to understand that the “Grey Wolves” did not come up with this gesture “from scratch”, but it was taken from Turkish mythology (in Turkish wars, during attacks, according to legends, they imitated the howling of a wolf to terrify the enemy). The wolf is an important predator in Turkish mythology.
However, after Demiral’s gesture, Turkish fans began parading him in the stands. This also outraged UEFA and an investigation has already begun.
Demiral shows the gesture of the “Grey Wolves”
Photo: Jose Breton/Getty Images
There was a special reaction in the Armenian media and among Armenian fans. The fact is that representatives of the “Grey Wolves” took a direct part in the Artsakh War, and also, since the late 1980s, participated in the formation of national extremist groups on the territory of the USSR: primarily in Azerbaijan and the North Caucasus.
Merih Demiral
Turkey national team defender
“I had the idea to celebrate the goal in a style associated with being Turkish. I am proud to be Turkish, so after the goal I felt I had to do it. I am glad I did it.”
Both Germany and Austria are outraged: the organisation is banned there:
The German Interior Ministry has responded to the Turkish footballer’s outrageous goal celebration at the European Championship. Austrian journalist: Demiral made a fascist gesture, when will UEFA start to act?
How do FIFA and UEFA impose sanctions in such cases?
Very mild. At the 2018 World Cup, Granit Xhaka, Xherdan Shaqiri and Stefan Lichtsteiner showed the Albanian “eagles” in the Switzerland-Serbia match, which caused anger in the stands and another political scandal in the Balkans. The players were not suspended after this and the team was not eliminated from the tournament. The players were fined: Xhaka and Shaqiri with 10 thousand Swiss francs (then 8.63 thousand euros) and Lichtsteiner with 5 thousand (4.32 thousand euros).
Let’s remember that there was already a scandal at the national level at Euro 2024: Rubin and Albanian national team striker Mirlind Daku insulted Macedonians and Serbians after his team’s 2-2 draw with Croatia. Serbia was on the verge of withdrawing from the tournament in protest. And Daka was disqualified.
Details of this and other scandals in this Eurocup
How Demiral will be punished and if he will be punished, we will find out in the near future. We will also find out if the Turkish national team will suffer. The national team’s next match will be on Saturday against the Netherlands.
