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SYou call yourself the “Alliance for Education”, a not very suspicious name. But behind the group, which will participate in local elections in Mülheim at the weekend in the Ruhr, according to an investigation by “Report Mainz”, there are also so-called gray wolves.
The Gray Wolves are considered to be the militant arm of the far-right Turkish MHP party. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution attests that the group has a “racist image of man” and “extremist activities”.
The fact that Turkish nationalists are pushing for a North Rhine-Westphalia town hall is not an isolated case. In the local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, many candidates who openly sympathize with the Turkish right-wing extremists, Islamists or Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan can be identified, some of them even on the list of established parties.
“Report Mainz” asked Ferit Sentürk, the leading candidate for the Alliance for Education. Sentürk does not hide her membership in the Gray Wolves. “’The Gray Wolves’, to whom I belong, passive, active, also as a member of the board, I am a member of the board, they are on average more than 50. The people who sit there really only come to drink coffee, to pray on Fridays. I support them ”, the magazine quotes the candidate.
Founder Hasan Tuncer answers a question from WELT to the Alliance for Education. He emphasizes: Originally, his group had nothing to do with the Turkish nationalists. He himself is Kurdish and Alevite, which does not fit in with the anti-Kurdish positions of the gray wolves. Sentürk and others had infiltrated the alliance. “I’m still a member of the board, the emphasis is on ‘still,'” says Tuncer. He insists on obtaining the documents that Sentürk presented to the electoral control. “Then I won’t be there another day.”
In a brochure published by Mobile Advice NRW, extremism experts explain that the infiltration of gray wolves into the landscape of German political parties began in 1995 with the appeal of the late leader Alparslan Türkes. Today, the ultranationalists would have established a “wide network” in Germany, including the CDU.
Sevket Avci competes for the Christian Democrats in Duisburg. The news site “Der Westen” published a photo of Avcis in front of a poster of the Turkish Büyük Birlik Partisi (Great Unity Party), considered a right-wing extremist and Islamist. Avci’s position has long been an issue within the CDU: In a report by the CDU Union of Diversity network titled “Influence of Turkish-Islamic Lobbyists on German Party Politics,” Avci appeared in 2016 like the “Gray Wolf of Duisburg”. WELT asked Avci about his stance on Turkish nationalism. A response is still pending.
CDU politician urges expulsion
The local politician told “Report Mainz” that he had no political ties to the Gray Wolves and that he rejected them. As the longtime president of the Integration Council, you have been invited to thousands of events and it does not always influence where and with whom you are shown in the photos. The district association of Avcis CDU wants to keep it. Your case should be discussed at a committee meeting, reports the “WAZ”.
Ali Ertan Toprak, CDU colleague, president of the Kurdish community in Germany, urges his party to act. “The CDU in Duisburg must immediately exclude this far-right Turkish candidate,” Toprak WELT said. Anyone who only opposes German right-wing extremism, but ignores not only migrant extremism, but also politeness, becomes “implausible”. Ankara-born Toprak has been critical of nationalist activities among Turkish immigrants for years.
“Unfortunately, all democratic parties have Turkish Islamist nationalists in their ranks,” he explains. Each vote for these parties is currently a vote in favor of “Turkish national Islamism”.
Green politicians with a Milli-Görüs past
The Bielefeld Greens recently faced similar accusations. The reason is her candidate Selvet Kocabey. Kocabey was an official of a mosque community that belongs to the Milli Görüs movement. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution is monitoring Milli Görüs and assigns the trend that has emerged in Turkey to “legalistic Islamism.”
Now Kocabey is competing in the Brackwede district. The 39-year-old recently distanced himself from the controversial Islamic association. Kocabey stressed that anti-Semitism and racism “were not acceptable” to him. Green OB candidate Kerstin Haarmann is still not thrilled about the lineup. Milli Görüs didn’t fit in with “green values,” she announced. Despite the arguments, the party remains faithful to its candidate.
There are numerous candidates on the lists of smaller parties and alliances who are open about their connections to controversial Islamic associations. The alternative citizens’ initiative in Solingen presented several candidates who, according to the party, have connections with Milli Görüs and the Ditib association. In recent years, Ditib has come under fire for his collaboration with the Turkish secret service MIT. For a brief period, the Ditib headquarters was also considered a “test case” for the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. The Alliance for Diversity in Dortmund also has at least one Ditib official on the ballot.
GREAT match investigation
And in Bonn, Duisburg, Bielefeld and Mönchengladbach, the Alliance for Innovation and Justice is being voted, in short: BIG. The party’s leader, Haluk Yildiz, has appeared in the past as Erdogan’s defender on various German talk shows. According to the newspaper “Bild”, the prosecutor is currently investigating the party. The suspicion: electoral fraud. It should be about candidate Selgün Calisir’s attempt to buy votes. The initial suspicion arises from a sound recording.
During a home search, a “large number of double-digit electoral documents were discovered,” the Duisburg prosecutor said. At a press conference on Thursday, Yildiz said the party was also reviewing the processes internally and had called in a lawyer. Calisir has promised her cooperation.
At least one case in Gelsenkirchen has had consequences recently. There, CDU candidate Ilhan Bükrücü resigned from a mandate after criticism of various positions of the politician grew strong. In 2015, Bükrücü supported the election campaign of Erdogan AKP’s party in Germany and campaigned against the recognition of the Armenian genocide. “The charges brought against Mr. Bükrücü weigh heavily: there is no room for such ideas in the CDU,” he said in a party statement.
In it, Bükrücü is quoted saying that ideas that he does not share are imputed to him. “Still, I have shared material in the past that gives that impression. I am deeply sorry, ”he continues. Therefore, it is also removed from all party offices of the CDU Gelsenkirchen.
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