The Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, arrived in Uruguay to sign an agreement to advance a Free Trade Agreement and, before leaving, made a gesture that provoked the anger of the Armenian community and that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Francisco Bustillo, convene the ambassador of that country for Monday to give explanations.
The Gray Wolves is an ultra-nationalist and far-right movement that emerged in the 1960s and became one of the main supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016.
The name of the group refers to the she-wolf Asena, who in Turkish mythology is the main figure and also a symbol of the identity of that country. The gesture, which attempts to simulate her figure, is called “the sign of the wolf”, as explained by Radio France International reporting that the French government would break up the movement over incidents between the Turkish and Armenian communities near the city of Lyon.
In principle, the Gray Wolves defined themselves as anti-communists and are held responsible for murdering people on the left. The movement targets Armenians, separatist Kurds, leftist militants and human rights defenders.
have been behind attacks against those they consider enemies of Turkey. A member of the group tried to attack Pope John Paul II in Saint Peter’s Square in 1981.
Çavuşoğlu was leaving to meet with Bustillo; both agreed terms of reference for an FTA and signed an investment protection and promotion treaty. After the meeting, the Turkish diplomat responded with a gesture in reference to the country’s Gray Wolves terrorist organization, which caused annoyance among those who were demonstrating at the door of the building in Montevideo.
the chancellor of #Turkey walks away making the gesture of the Turkish terrorist organization Gray Wolves to the Armenian protesters.
A shameful gesture that demonstrates the real purpose of this visit.
We regret that the @MRREE_Uruguay shelter those who claim terrorism. pic.twitter.com/DDAQ5dd8Gf– CouncilCausaArmenia (@causaarmeniauy) April 23, 2022
A video became public after being posted on Twitter, and the rejection of Çavuşoğlu’s attitude was generalized among the Armenian community, towards the afternoon of this Saturday. For his part, the Uruguayan foreign minister decided to summon the Uruguayan ambassador to the Santos Palace – the headquarters of the foreign ministry, in the Center – for that specific issue, he added to The Observer one of the foreign ministry informants.
