How can I recognise right-wing extremists with links to Turkey, and where can I find more information about them? What does it mean that right-wing extremists with links to Turkey are both perpetrators and victims of discrimination and exclusion? Is there anti-Semitism among the Grey Wolves? What civil society and municipal approaches are effective in combating these actors?
Over mocktails and bar music, 50 people from academia and practice, as well as students from OTH and the University of Regensburg, discussed developments among the Grey Wolves. The coffee house atmosphere encouraged direct exchange among all guests. The event was based on the World Café method, which favours direct conversation over a lecture format. At the end, there were six tablecloths covered with ideas, questions and comments, which will now be evaluated by the organisers. The findings will be taken into account in the further research process. Martina Ortner, the project manager, said: ‘I am very impressed by how intensively the discussion was conducted. This shows us that we are on the right track with our participatory research approach, of which this event is a part.’ The participants included Dr Evrim Ersan Akkılıç from the DÖW, Prof. Dr Emre Arslan from the IU International University, Dr Yaşar Aydın from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Özge Erdoğan from the Turkish Right-wing Extremism Unit of the BDAJ e.V. and employees of the Munich Information Centre on Right-wing Extremism.
The World Café was part of a two-day conference. Researchers from Germany and Austria discussed the activities of the so-called Grey Wolves in Bavaria from an organisational sociological perspective on the basis of a working paper by Rabia Kökten. The new HIT building provided a suitable setting for this. The next topics for discussion have already been decided. The meeting in autumn will be held via video conference. This will allow other researchers to participate as well. Rabia Kökten, project collaborator: ‘The two days of discussion helped us to review our findings so far, because we looked at them from different angles. I am very pleased that everyone was so engaged.’
The research project focuses on transnational forms of right-wing extremism, using the example of ÜLKÜCÜ, better known as the Grey Wolves. It is a sub-project of the research network for contemporary analysis, remembrance practices and counter-strategies to right-wing extremism in Bavaria, ForGeRex, which is funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts.
