The SPD has been engaged in a self-imposed “fight against the political far right” for years. But when it comes to Turkish right-wing extremists, the Social Democrats are apparently happy to turn a blind eye. At least that is what the latest events from Filderstadt in the state of Baden-Württemberg suggest: first an SPD member of the Bundestag is criticised for visiting an association belonging to the “Grey Wolves”. Now it is also becoming known that three people who are currently standing as candidates for the SPD in local council and district council elections come from a Turkish right-wing extremist background.
Specifically, they are Gülten Ilbay, Hasan Arslan and Müesser K. According to research by the newspaper Welt, they all have connections to the same organisation where SPD member of parliament Nils Schmid and the entire local leadership of the Social Democrats were guests at a fast-breaking event: the Filderstadt German-Turkish Friendship Association. The name may sound harmless at first, but the association belongs to the Federation of Turkish-Democratic Idealist Associations in Germany (ADÜTDF) – also known as the “Grey Wolves”.
And that’s not the only thing: according to the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Interior, the German-Turkish Friendship Association is one of the most active members of the same umbrella organisation and regularly publishes “its commemoration of Turkish right-wing extremist masterminds” online “as a commitment to Turkish right-wing extremist ideology”.
The connection to the organisation and the fact that all three SPD candidates can be seen in the photo with Nils Schmid breaking the fast is not the only thing that incriminates them. According to Welt, there are a total of 10 photos of 47-year-old Gülten Ilbay – who is running for the Filderstadt SPD in 14th position on the list for the municipal elections – in which she shows the wolf salute, a symbol of recognition and identification of the Turkish nationalists.
There are also pictures in the background showing, among others, MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli – the leader of the Grey Wolves party. The pictures were published between June 2018 and December 2023 by the German-Turkish Friendship Association Filderstadt.
Another photo of the association shows Hasan Arslan, who is running for the SPD in 25th position on the list for the local council elections and ninth position on the list for the district council elections. The 47-year-old poses with two other men in front of a flag with three white crescents – the logo of the MHP. According to Welt, the same flag is also hanging in the background of a photo showing Müesser K. – SPD candidate in the local council election in 30th place on the list.
The Grey Wolves are an ultra-nationalist organisation in Turkey that has followers all over the world. In Germany, the organisation is said to have 10,000 sympathisers. One of the best known is probably former national player Mesut Özil. A few weeks ago, he flaunted a tattoo of the Grey Wolves’ coat of arms on Instagram. The organisation is particularly hostile towards Kurds, Alevis and Jews.