The banning of a Turkish ultra-nationalist group in France is a double standard and Turkey will take countermeasures against the hypocritical move, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
The nature of the Turkish measures was not immediately clear.
On Wednesday, France said it was banning a movement, which it referred to as the paramilitary and ultra-nationalist movement of the Grey Wolves, adding that the group was involved in violent protests targeting Kurdish and Armenian activists.
Grey Wolves, not an officially registered group, is the often used nickname for Turkey’s Ulku Ocaklari – Idealist Hearths in Turkish an ultra-nationalist youth organisation affiliated with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
The group was involved in anti-Armenian demonstrations in the Lyon and Grenoble areas late last month, according to the government decree attached to a tweet sent out by French Interior Minister, Gerald Darmanin.
The French decree, however, did not explicitly name Ulku Ocaklari.
The MHP is allied with President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party in parliament.
Paris also cited the symbols and slogans used by the group, including a hand salute.
“It is unacceptable to prohibit symbols which are quite common, have no illegal aspect and are used in many countries,’’ the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.
Ankara further accused the French government of being taken captive by Armenian circles.
The demonstrations in October came against the background of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, in which ethnically Turkic Azerbaijan is strongly backed by Turkey.
