Police stop Turkish football fan parade over far-right salute

Berlin police said they stopped Turkish fans parading Saturday ahead of their Euro 2024 quarter-final after some made a salute associated with a far-right movement -- the same gesture that led to a Turkish player being suspended.

The "Grey Wolves" salute -- three fingers held together with the index and little finger raised to form a wolf's head -- is associated with an ultranationalist Turkish movement which Germany's government considers racist and anti-Semitic.

"During the Turkish fans' march, the 'Grey Wolves' salute was made en masse. The police therefore stopped the march and urged the fans to stop making this sign," the German capital's police force said on social media site X.

"A fan march is not a platform for political messages," the statement added.

The build-up to Turkey's football match against the Netherlands at Berlin's Olympiastadion, which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to attend, has been marked by a diplomatic tit-for-tat between Berlin and Ankara over the salute.

Defender Merih Demiral celebrated his two goals against Austria in the round of 16 with the salute on Tuesday, earning him a two-match suspension from UEFA which coach Vincenzo Montella described as "unfair".

Germany's interior minister Nancy Faeser, condemned Demiral's actions, saying "the symbol of Turkish right-wing extremists has no place in our stadiums" on X.

Turkey summoned Germany's ambassador to Ankara on Wednesday in response to Faeser's comments, with Berlin doing the same to Turkey's envoy the day after.

Germany, which is home to Europe's largest Turkish immigrant community, has had to deal with expressions of support for the Grey Wolves from some of its residents.

The far-right movement developed from the 1960s onwards as the youth wing of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), a member of the country's ruling coalition led by Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The group has been associated in the past with numerous political assassinations of Kurdish and left-wing activists.