Despite the media fuss about his closeness to the Turkish right-wing extremist Grey Wolves, the Duisburg Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has made it clear by constituting its council faction that it will stick to Sevket Avci. If it would have required a final proof that the CDU tolerates Grey Wolves and that the alleged party expulsion proceedings do not take place at all, it would have been proved. Since demands for corresponding incompatibility resolutions in 2014 and 2016 were rejected, Grey Wolves are still allowed to be politically engaged in the CDU today.According to a statement published on Friday by the Duisburg CDU council faction, the party continues to stick to Sevket Avci and he is to represent it in the city council in the future.A few days before the local elections, the TV program “Report Mainz” and the newspaper “Der Westen” had reported on Avci’s closeness to the Turkish right-wing extremist Grey Wolves. The 56-year-old only came in third in his constituency. Via the CDU list, Avci was nevertheless able to gain a seat in the newly elected Duisburg city council.The closeness of Sevket Avci to the Grey Wolves was already known to the public in 2014 and also documented by corresponding photos. The pictures showing Avci at Grey Wolf gatherings were already well known in CDU groups. When asked by the newspaper WAZ, however, the Duisburg CDU declared that they were unaware of any such statements by Sevket Avci, but that they intended to deal with this topic in the next meetings. The Duisburg CDU, however, said nothing about the incriminating photos. When the CDU state chairman Armin Laschet had to comment on this at the request of “Report Mainz”, he claimed that gray wolves were excluded from the CDU. “There are clear rules”, he said.However, Armin Laschet did not mention that claims for a corresponding incompatibility decision had already been rejected by the state executive board in 2014. When a motion was put to the vote at the 2016 CDU federal party conference in Essen, according to which membership in the CDU could no longer be reconciled with membership in the Turkish party AKP, the Islamic Community Milli Görüs (IGMG), the Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD), the Gülen movement, the Turkish right-wing extremist Grey Wolves and the Kurdish terrorist organization PKK, as well as in similarly oriented organizations, it was rejected by the majority of delegates on the recommendation of the amendment committee. Thus Grey Wolves were allowed to continue to be politically engaged in the CDU.
Conclusion: The chutzpah of the CDU is almost astounding. In 2014 the closeness of Sevket Avci to the Grey Wolves became public knowledge. But the Duisburg CDU as well as the state CDU already missed out on this at that time, until the topic disappeared again from the media. Then he was allowed to carry on in the CDU and was even nominated as a council candidate. And after the media coverage of his closeness to the Grey Wolves has now been ignored for the second time, he was allowed to stay again and even run for the city council. If it would have needed a final proof that the CDU tolerates Grey Wolves and that the alleged party expulsion procedures do not exist at all, it might have been proved with it.