Pro-Government Militias
Grey Wolves (Turkey)
Basic Group Information
| Name assigned by coder: | no |
| PGM ID Number: | 633 |
| Country: | Turkey |
| Date formed: | Aug. 16, 1993 |
| Accuracy of date formed: | year |
| Details of Formation: | The Grey Wolves were founded by Colonel Alparslan Türkeş as paramilitary youth wing of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) in late 1960s and were active as PGM in the 1970s. They were banned after the military coup of March 12, 1980 (Wikipedia Grey Wolves). In November 1993, they were recruited by government to form part of the newly founded Special Police. |
| Date dissolved: | Nov. 18, 2002 |
| Accuracy of date dissolved: | day |
| Details of Termination: | The group is coded as terminated after the government change in 2002, when the MHP, who previously had been a coalition partner, was not in government anymore. The Grey Wolves remained an active and armed group and continued to attack Kurdish sympathisers and activists. In 2015 there was an allegation that the Grey Wolves had committed an attack together with AKP members (Wikipedia Grey Wolves). |
| Termination Type(s): | change in government |
Former and Successor Group Information
| Predecessor group(s): | none |
| Successor group(s): | none |
| Private Military Company? | no |
| Former Group? | yes |
| Former Armed Group? | yes |
| Former Rebel Group? | no |
| Former Rebel Group UCDP ID: | none |
| PGM Becomes Rebel Group? | no |
| Successor Rebel Group UCDP ID: | none |
Government Relation, Support, and Training
| Government Relation: | informal (type 1) |
| Created by the Government?: | no | Main Creating Government Institution: | none |
| Government Link(s): | political party; military (institution) |
| If link to party, name of party: | Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) |
| Training and Equipment: | yes |
| Shared Information and Joint Operations: | yes |
| Shared Personnel: | no information |
| Type(s) of Material Support: | domestic government; drugs; crime |
| State Sponsor(s): | none |
| Other Connection(s): |
Group Characteristics
| Membership: | ideology; ex soldiers; party activists |
| Primary Membership: | political |
| Alternative Primary Membership: | no information |
| Location: | South-East of Turkey, Northern Cyprus |
| Force Strength: | [2500, 7500] |
| Target(s): | civilians; unarmed political opposition, government critics; rebels, insurgents, or other armed group; ethnic group; journalists; students |
| Purpose(s): | protect national borders and integrity; self-defense and security; intimidation of ethnic/religious groups; destabilise neighbouring countries; intimidate political opposition; fight insurgents |
Ethnic Characteristics
| Ethnic Target(s): | Kurds (Turkey); Greeks (Cyprus); Armenians (Turkey) |
| Quality of Information for Ethnic Targeting: | given |
| Ethnic Membership: | none |
| Quality of Information for Ethnic Membership: | not applicable |
| Ethnic Purpose: | Kurds (Turkey) |
| Quality of Information for Ethnic Purpose: | given |
Other Information
| Other Information: | The Grey Wolves are officially known as Ülkü Ocakları (“Idealist Clubs/Hearths”) and have strong ties to the Turkish deep state. It had allegedly dealings with the Turkish Gladio. The group is also active in other countries with a Turkic population. Their link to the Turkish government was revealed in the Susurluk scandal of 1996 (Wikipedia Grey Wolves). |
New Variables from Meta-Analysis
Purpose
| Purpose: | In the 1970s the Grey Wolves were mainly used to attack left-wing groups and to cause chaos which would then profit the government promising law and order. In the 1990s they were mainly used to carry out political murders, especially against Kurds and the PKK (Wikipedia Grey Wolves). |
| Relative Benefit(s) of PGM Use | deniability of violence |
Treatment of Civilians
| Treatment of Civilians: | Throughout their existence, both in the 1970s as well as in the 1990s, the Grey Wolves killed civilians, including liberal activists, intellectuals, ethnic Kurds, journalists, students (Wikipedia Grey Wolves). |
| Type(s) of Violence against Civilians: | killing |
Reasons for Membership
| PGM Members Coerced? | no |
| PGM Members Paid? | no information |
| Reasons for Membership: | Members seem to take part for political/ideological conviction (Wikipedia Grey Wolves). |
| PGM Members Killed? | no information |
PGM Size
| Size: | In the first time of existence, at the time of the coup there were around 200,000 registered Grey Wolves members. Nowadays, the Grey Wolves are supported by around 3.6% of the Turkish electorate (~1.9 million) (Wikipedia Grey Wolves). |
Weapons and Training
| Weapons and Training: | Colonel and founder Türkeş established hundred camps for ideological and paramilitary training in 1968. The Grey Wolves were supplied with weapons by the Counter Guerilla (Turkish Gladio) and allegedly received guns and explosives from the CIA in the 1970s. The 2008 Ergenekon trials about the Grey Wolves in the 1990s revealed that the National Intelligence Organisation (MİT) armed the Grey Wolves (Wikipedia Grey Wolves). A news source reports the group was armed with guns, staves, blubs, stones and iron bars. |
Organisation
| Organisation: | From 1968-1997 the Grey Wolves were led by Alparslan Türkeş, and from 1997 on by Devlet Bahçeli (Wikipedia Grey Wolves). Alparslan Türkeş was the founder and president of the MHP (Wikipedia Alparslan Türkeş). Devlet Bahçeli is a Turkish politician and the chairman of the MHP since 1997 (Wikipedia Devlet Bahçeli). During the 1970s the group operated with the protection of the Turkish Army Special Warfare Department. In the 1990s they had close ties with the police and state officials. The National Intelligence Organization (MİT) funded the Grey Wolves members to carry out political murders (Wikipedia Grey Wolves). According to a news source, they were part of the Special Police Team under the command of the interior ministry from 1993 on. |
Reference(s) for Meta-Analysis
Evidence
- Examine the evidence for this coding.