The Turkish Foreign Ministry has denied the existence of the Turkish nationalist organization Gray Wolves, previously banned in France. RIA Novosti reports.
“This is the latest manifestation of a contradictory psychology, according to which this country considers the actions of a number of individuals in the framework of their belonging to an allegedly existing organization,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry noted that the decision of France and the ban on the “Gray Wolves” showed that the government of the country “has now become completely dependent on the Armenian circles” and promised to react as hard as possible to this decision.
The ministry stressed that freedom of expression of the Turkish community in France must be upheld as a universal human right, and those who argue that freedom of expression cannot be restricted in any way when it comes to themselves can themselves limit this freedom when it comes others, the statement says.
“At the same time, it is unacceptable to prohibit symbols that are extremely common in many countries of the world and do not contain anything illegal,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.
Earlier, the head of the French Ministry of Internal Affairs Gerald Darmanen announced a ban on the activities of the group of radical Turkish nationalists “Gray Wolves” in accordance with the instructions of the country's President Emmanuel Macron.
As noted by BBC News, they decided to introduce restrictions shortly after the monument about the Armenian genocide near Lyon was damaged by pro-Turkish slogans. The name of the group and the letters RTE, the first letters of the name of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, were also written on the memorial in yellow paint. This happened against the backdrop of tensions between France and Turkey over the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, in which Ankara supports Azerbaijan.
