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![Men clean an outside wall of the National Armenian Memorial Centre in Decines-Charpieu near Lyon, France on November 1, 2020 where 'Loup Gris' [Grey Wolves] graffiti tags were painted overnight. Photo: Jeff Pachoud/AFP](https://www.rudaw.net/s3/rudaw.net/ContentFiles/579788Image1.jpg?mode=crop&quality=70&rand=1&scale=both&w=752&h=472&version=4162876 "Men clean an outside wall of the National Armenian Memorial Centre in Decines-Charpieu near Lyon, France on November 1, 2020 where 'Loup Gris' [Grey Wolves] graffiti tags were painted overnight. Photo: Jeff Pachoud/AFP")
![Men clean an outside wall of the National Armenian Memorial Centre in Decines-Charpieu near Lyon, France on November 1, 2020 where 'Loup Gris' [Grey Wolves] graffiti tags were painted overnight. Photo: Jeff Pachoud/AFP](https://www.rudaw.net/s3/rudaw.net/ContentFiles/579788Image1.jpg?version=4162876 "Men clean an outside wall of the National Armenian Memorial Centre in Decines-Charpieu near Lyon, France on November 1, 2020 where 'Loup Gris' [Grey Wolves] graffiti tags were painted overnight. Photo: Jeff Pachoud/AFP")
Men clean an outside wall of the National Armenian Memorial Centre in Decines-Charpieu near Lyon, France on November 1, 2020 where 'Loup Gris' [Grey Wolves] graffiti tags were painted overnight. Photo: Jeff Pachoud/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The European Parliament on Wednesday called on member states to apply the terror label to Turkey’s Grey Wolves movement and ban the group in Europe.
The parliament said it is “highly worried that the racist right-wing extremist Ulkucu movement, known as ‘Grey Wolves’, which is closely linked to the ruling coalition party MHP (the Nationalist Movement Party), is spreading in Turkey itself, but also in EU Member States,” in a text adopted on Wednesday.
It called on EU member states to consider adding the Grey Wolves to Europe’s terror list and ban its activities and organizations, calling the group “especially threatening for people with a Kurdish, Armenian or Greek background and anyone they consider an opponent.”
The Grey Wolves were established in 1965 to boost Turkish nationalism. It is affiliated with the MHP, which is a political ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), and is accused of promoting hatred and violence against minority groups in Turkey, including Kurds and Armenians.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry condemned the parliament’s resolution, calling the body “prejudiced” and accusing it of tolerating activities of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is a named terror organization in Europe.
“Racism and fascism are the concepts that belong to western political jargon, and this political line should not be confused with the perception of nationalism in Turkey,” read a statement from the ministry.
France banned the Grey Wolves last November.
Adopting the text on Turkey, the parliament said it is worried about "the state of the rule of law and respect for fundamental rights" in Turkey, and Europe should suspend accession talks if Ankara "does not reverse this current negative trend."
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