Mayor İmamoğlu visits family of assassinated former Grey Wolves head

Duvar English

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), on Jan. 27 visited the family of the former Grey Wolves head Sinan Ateş who was assassinated last month.

İmamoğlu paid a condolence visit to the family of Sinan Ateş in the northwestern province of Bursa, KRT TV reported.

"I paid my condolences to Sinan Ateş's mourning family in Bursa. The mystery over this murder must be solved as soon as possible," İmamoğlu said in a tweet.

Sinan Ateş, former Grey Wolves head, was assassinated by two people on a motorcycle while leaving a building on Dec. 30, 2022, in capital Ankara.

18 people were detained as part of the investigation into Ateş’s assassination. Some police officers as well as Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and Grey Wolves members were among those detained. The shooter has not been caught yet.

Ateş was the head of Grey Wolves, a group of far-right ultra-nationalist Turks known as “Ülkü Ocakları” in Turkish, between 2019 and 2020. He became the head of Grey Wolves upon MHP leader Bahçeli’s instruction.

Ateş resigned from his duty on April 2, 2020 at the request of Bahçeli and started working as an academic at Hacettepe University, Department of History.

MHP officials, including Bahçeli, avoided offering their condolences to Ateş during this period.

Some of Ateş’s family members claimed that he was murdered within the knowledge of MHP officials.

The Grey Wolves, seen as a wing of the MHP, are banned in several European countries due to their constant attacks.