This article refers to the Turkish terrorist group. For the animal see Wolf; for the Death Industrial music group see The Grey Wolves

Grey Wolves (Bozkurtlar in Turkish) is the common name for the paramilitary arm of the Turkish Nationalist Movement Party ("Milliyetci Hareket Partisi", MHP), an ultra-nationalist movement founded by Alparslan Turkes in 1961. They are named after a legendary she-wolf (Börteçine) that led captive Central Asian Turks to freedom. Their formal name in Turkish is ülkücüler (the idealists) and Ülkücü Hareket (The Idealist Movement).

Like all other parties, MHP was banned after the military coup of September 12, 1980. The Nationalist Task Party ("Milliyetçi Çalışma Partisi", MÇP) was founded in 1983 as a successor to the MHP, which as of 1992 is once again known as the MHP.

A significant pillar of the MHP's ideology is the dream of creating the Turan, the Great Turkish Empire, including Turkic peoples in the countries of the former Soviet Union.

The MHP is anti-Kurdish and supported the government's military approach to the insurgency by the (PKK) in southeast Turkey, and it opposes any concessions to Kurdish separatists. MHP members acted as paramilitary auxiliaries to the Turkish army in this war and were responsible for several massacres and atrocities. The Grey Wolves have also been responsible for terrorist attacks on May Day marchers in Istanbul in 1998 and massacres of members of Turkey's Alevi minority in 1978. The Grey Wolves functioned under many names such as TIT (Turkish Brigade of Revenge) and ETKO (Army for the Liberation of Captive Turks).

Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish gunman who shot and wounded Pope John Paul II in 1981, was a former Grey Wolf. The Grey Wolves have been accused of assassinating, on July 6, 1996, the prominent Turkish Cypriot journalist Kutlu Adali, because of his criticism of the Rauf Denktash regime and, more generally, of Turkey's policies in Cyprus. In 1996 a Turkish deputy from Tansu Ciller's True Path Party (DYP) revealed that Abdullah Catli , the leader of the Grey Wolves, was responsible for arson fires on Greek islands. Catli was killed in a 1996 car accident (along with Gonca Us , a former beauty pageant queen who joined the Grey Wolves) which brought to light the relations between Turkish mafia and the government [1].

Some significant slogans

• Tanrı Türk'ü Korusun ve Yüceltsin! (God Save and Sublime the Turk!) (compare to more Islamic Allah Türk'ü Korusun ve Yüceltsin!)
• Rehber Kur'an, Hedef Turan! (Our Guide is Qur'an, Our Goal is Turan!)
• Şehitler Ölmez, Vatan Bölünmez/Ezan Dinmez, Bayrak İnmez, Ülkücü Hareket Engellenemez! (Martyrs Don't Die, Fatherland Doesn't Get Divided/Adhan Doesn't Get Silenced, (Our) Flag Doesn't Get Down, The Idealist Movement Can't Be Hampered!)
• Ya Tam Susturacağız, Ya Kan Kusturacağız! (We Will Silence Them All else We Will Make Them Spit Blood!)

External links

• The MHP (Grey Wolves) and Fascism in Turkey, a number of links to articles.
• Austria's Freedom Party and the MHP by P. D. Spyropoulos