Turkish Far-Right Organization Grey Wolves at the Turn of the 1960-1970s: History of Creation, Structure, Activities

The Turkish far-right paramilitary Grey Wolves was established by Colonel Alparslan Türkeş as the paramilitary youth wing of the Nationalist Movement Party in the late 1960s. The purpose of this article is to systematize information about the activities of the Turkish ultra-right organization Grey Wolves in the period from the second half of the 1960s to the 1971 military memorandum. The study is based on monographs, articles by Turkish and European researchers who deal with political violence and the problem of the anti-communist movement in Turkey, as well as media materials. Methodologically, the current study is based on the principles of historicism, determinism and objectivity. Historiographical, chronological, retrospective and typological methods are used. It is important to emphasize that the anti-communist activity of the Grey Wolves was part of the secret NATO operation Gladio, which was aimed at preparing the alliance member countries for a potential military confrontation with the USSR and its allies. This fact explains the anti-communist activities of the Grey Wolves, who at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s were involved in street battles with left-wing activists. An important circumstance indicating that the Grey Wolves were not just a group of political activists, but a paramilitary organization, was the presence at their disposal of so-called “commando camps”. In specialized camps, far-right young people not only underwent physical training, but were also subjected to active ideological indoctrination. The article concludes that the Grey Wolves organization, which was an association of a large number of nationalist cells, was distinguished by a high degree of coordination and centralization. Despite the fact that after the 1971 memorandum structures associated with the Grey Wolves were banned, the activities of the far-right militants continued, which resulted in mass political violence in 1976-1980.