Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz “has accused Turkey of sowing strife in Europe” after members of the Turkish Grey Wolves, an ultra-nationalist Turkish political organization, “clashed with Kurdish leftists and their Antifa allies in Vienna.”
This is nothing new. “In 2016, the two groups clashed in the city of Duisburg and both Turks and Kurds briefly fought one another in central Vienna in August of that year.”
Besides being a growing regional influence, Turkey is a danger to Europe. It should have been thrown out of NATO long ago, given how its interests conflict with those of the West. Turkey’s President Erdogan is also making efforts to divide and conquer between the EU, America and the Kurds. While the EU has come out in support of Black Lives Matter (BLM), US President Trump has announced that he will declare the BLM-linked group Antifa a terrorist organization. Erdogan, meanwhile, has told Trump that the Kurdish PKK is behind the Antifa riots and the destruction perpetrated by the BLM movement in America.
Turkish influence and meddling in Europe isn’t new, either.
- In 2011, when Erdogan visited Germany, thousands of Turkish immigrants gave him “a rock star welcome” in a show of “national pride.” Erdogan “told them they remain part of Turkey, and urged them to integrate into German society — but not to assimilate.” (By 2019, Erdogan told Turks in Switzerland not to integrate into Swiss society and culture.)
- In July 2016, a whopping 50,000 demonstrators marched through the streets of Cologne waving the Turkish national flag in support of Erdogan. Demonstrators also “held aloft pictures of Erdogan and placards reading ‘For Democracy, Against Putsch’ after a failed military coup” earlier in the month.
- Last October, mosques in Germany were reported to be praying for the Turkish army’s success as it engaged “a fierce military offensive” against Kurdish forces and civilians in neighboring Syria. Also last year, Hans Georg Maaßen, former president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, warned that Turkish imams were acting as intel agents within Germany and violating the country’s sovereignty.
Erdogan, who dreams of a revived Ottoman Empire, has referred to Europe as a “sick man” that is “collapsing.” The term “sick man” was used to describe the Ottoman Empire as it was collapsing in the 19th century.
Most recently, Turkey has been sending floods of migrants into Greece, prompting the deputy leader of the “populist” Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Beatrix von Storch, to demand that Turkey be removed from NATO. That is a good idea.
Sebastian Kurz has it right: “I know exactly what Turkey is trying to do here: namely to use Turks in Europe to sow strife and to create moods here and there above all for Turkey’s own interests.”
“Sebastian Kurz Accused Erdogan of Stoking Tensions in Europe After Turkish Clashes with Kurds,” by Chris Tomlinson, Breitbart, July 1, 2020:
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has accused Turkey of sowing strife in Europe after members of the far-right Turkish Grey Wolves clashed with Kurdish leftists and their Antifa allies in Vienna.
Chancellor Kurz summoned the Turkish ambassador to Austria on Monday and told the press “that there must be an end to Turkey trying to influence the people here in Austria and instrumentalising them for their conflicts”.
“I don’t expect a lot of support from Turkey,” he said, Austrian tabloid Kronen Zeitung reports.
“Because I know exactly what Turkey is trying to do here: namely to use Turks in Europe to sow strife and to create moods here and there above all for Turkey’s own interests,” Chancellor Kurz added.
“These conflicts are imported from Turkey,” Kurz said and went on to note: “If you need street fights, you should do it in Turkey, but there is no place for it in Austria.”
The comments come just days after members of the far-right Turkish Grey Wolves, an ultra-nationalist group, clashed with Kurdish supporters of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and the Kurds’ Antifa allies in the heavily migrant-populated Favoriten district of Vienna.
The conflict began last Wednesday when members of the Grey Wolves interrupted a Kurdish women’s association meeting. Clashes between the far-right and far-left extremist groups continued for several days after. Eleven people have so far been arrested in connection with the violence and seven police officers injured.
The PKK, along with its symbols and flags, were banned in Austria in February of last year. While some symbols of the Grey Wolves are now forbidden, as well, the far-right group is not proscribed outright.
Over the weekend, Chancellor Kurz announced a “zero-tolerance” policy saying: “We will not allow conflicts to be carried from Turkey to Austria and to be carried out violently on our streets.”
The Turkish Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, said that “demonstrations have been held in Vienna by the PKK terrorist organisation and its supporters for a few days”.
Clashes between Grey Wolves and PKK supporters have been seen in Germany in the past, as well. In 2016, the two groups clashed in the city of Duisburg and both Turks and Kurds briefly fought one another in central Vienna in August of that year….