İsmail Küçükkaya makes 'grey wolf' sign on live broadcast

Journalist İsmail Küçükkaya, who hosts the "Yeni Bir Sabah" program broadcast on Halk TV, performed the 'grey wolf' (bozkurt) sign, which is identified with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), during a live broadcast.

Küçükkaya performed this gesture before bringing up a photo on screen of Selçuk Bayraktar, the son-in-law of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and leader of Baykar Technology, making the grey wolf sign.

REQUEST FOR CLOSE-UP

After making the grey wolf sign, Küçükkaya requested that the director take a close-up shot of him. However, in his statement, he said, “Me doing this is not newsworthy. It becomes news when Selçuk Bayraktar does it,” he remarked. This statement drew significant attention from viewers and caused the program to become a trending topic on social media.

BENGÜ TÜRK'S POST 

During the live broadcast, it was also mentioned that Bengü Türk, a media outlet known for its proximity to the MHP, had made a post saying “Make a grey wolf sign so the world sees it” regarding the photo of Selçuk Bayraktar making the sign. After showing the video of Bayraktar, Küçükkaya commented on the situation by saying, “It was truly interesting.”

HAD BECOME A TOPIC AGAIN WITH MERİH DEMİRAL 

The grey wolf sign is a gesture accepted as the symbol and political signature of the MHP in Turkey. This sign most recently came to the agenda and caused controversy during the 2024 European Football Championship when national football player Merih Demiral used it during a goal celebration. Although the sign is seen by some segments as a “symbol of Turkishness,” it is known in Turkey primarily as the political symbol of the MHP and the Ülkü Ocakları (Idealist Hearths).

HISTORY OF THE GREY WOLF SIGN

The grey wolf sign began to be actively used by the Nationalist Movement Party in the 1990s. It is known that the late MHP Chairman Alparslan Türkeş adopted this sign during a visit to Azerbaijan. There is no record of the grey wolf sign being used by the MHP before the 1990s, and since that date, it has become a symbol frequently used by the MHP and its youth organization, the Ülkü Ocakları.

News Source: 12punto