Austria
Behind a Smear Campaign
In 2020, my home was raided by the Austrian police as part of Operation Luxor, a crackdown on Muslim civil society activists. Only later would I discover what lay behind the branding of prominent Muslim voices as Islamist enemies of the state and made my life in Austria impossible.
Erdogan and Austria’s Far Right: Enemies Who Help Each Other
For Erdoğan, Turkish citizens in Austria as well as Germany constitute a “pool of voters for the AKP,” which he may need to draw upon in the 2023 presidential election given his declining popularity at home. But Erdogan is only able to draw on them because he is playing the kind of music Turks in Austria want to hear.
Germany’s ‘Gray Wolves’ and Turkish Radicalization
Calls within the EU to designate the Ülkü Ocaklari, also known by the moniker “Gray Wolves,” as a terrorist group are portrayed as a crackdown on Turkish far-right extremism. But it raises questions on broader issues about assimilation and inclusion of Turkish immigrants in Europe.