The posters are printed and already posted in the streets of Saint-Josse. But new elements have since surfaced. Indeed, several photos, including one dated November and one from last December from a TikTok account, have reached us. We see there Turgay Yuksel, surrounded by other men. Everyone mimes a wolf’s head with their hand, the symbol of the “Grey Wolves”.
This Turkish ultranationalist organization known for its violent actions was, originally, the paramilitary branch of the MHP, Turkey’s far-right party. Our French neighbors also issued a dissolution order in 2020 targeting the Gray Wolves deemed to be “inciting discrimination and hatred and being involved in violent actions,” by the Minister of the Interior at the time, Gérald Darmanin.
As a reminder, it was after meeting a delegation which welcomed two MHP mayors that the socialist Emir Kir, mayor of Saint-Josse, was excluded… from the PS in 2020. Note also that the MHP is allied to the AKP, party of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“Not in line with our values”
The leader of the Tennoois PS, Philippe Boïketé, claims to have only discovered this closeness of the candidate with the Gray Wolves “very recently” and having informed Turgay Yuksel this Friday morning that he would ultimately not be a socialist candidate. The Facebook posts announcing his candidacy were however only removed after our first phone call to the socialists around 5 p.m. this Friday. But the main interested party had announced on the networks that they were leaving the list before our call.
Philippe Boïketé evokes as justification “the difficulty of motivating candidates for a second municipal campaign in a row”. “We had departures for various reasons. It’s difficult to find motivated people and we don’t necessarily have the means to check their entire past. In any case, this kind of thing is not in line with our values. It was members of my list who spoke to me about him, telling me that he could be a good recruit.”
This is not the first time that we have surprised socialists close to “Belçika Turan”, the group in which Turgay Yuksel was seen in photos. A few months ago, Brussels MP Yusuf Yildiz (PS) posted a story on Instagram alongside a member of this group. Even if, here, no explicit symbol. Contacted by us at the time, the Schaerbeek MP then pleaded ignorance.
Contacted, Turgay Yuksel did not wish to comment on the matter for the moment.
