Turkish Ultranationalist Grey Wolves Protest in Malmö After Being Banned in France

The Turkish ultranationalist Grey Wolves attended a protest in the multicultural city of Malmö, Sweden after the group was banned in France.

The Turkish group showed up at a pro-Azerbaijan protest in Malmö last weekend, which was supporting the country in its recent conflict with Armenia.

According to a report by Swedish newspaper Expressen, the Grey Wolves invited supporters to the protest through their Facebook account to show solidarity with their “blood brothers in Azerbaijan”.

The paper added that pictures from the protest also depicted demonstrators making the wolf’s head hand gesture commonly associated with the group.

Swedish-Kurdish author Kurdo Baksi commented on the presence of the Grey Wolves at the event, saying: “I’ve checked and I don’t know that it’s ever happened before. It’s unusual. This is an organisation that in the ’80s hid in laundromats because they did not want to expose themselves.”

Baski added that the group was given a “direct order” to attend the protest by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and said: “They are now using the conflict in Azerbaijan and the beheading of the teacher in France to justify Erdogan’s criticism of Europe.”

The Grey Wolves have had a presence in Sweden for years, with former Centre Party politician Mikail Yüksel being expelled from the party because of his association with them.

Earlier this year, Yüksel and others announced the formation of a new Islamic political party, the Nyans Party, that demands Muslims in Sweden be granted special minority status.

Following tensions between France and Turkey in the aftermath of the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty, Emmanuel Macron’s government last week banned the Grey Wolves from operating in France.

The ban came after Grey Wolves held an anti-Armenian march in the streets of Dijon yelling “Allahu Akbar” and chanting various anti-Armenia and anti-Macron slogans.

The 60 or so members of the Turkish group ultimately clashed with police, who used tear gas to disperse the crowd.

A memorial to the Armenian genocide near Lyon was also vandalised with pro-Grey Wolf slogans and the initials of President Erdogan before the French government ban.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com