German city bans teachers from using ‘silent fox’ gesture to silence students who raise links to Turkish far-right

A German city has banned a hand gesture used by teachers in class because it resembles a far-right Turkish salute.

The “silent fox” gesture, used by educators and kindergarten teachers to encourage their students to stop talking and maintain decorum in the classroom, has been banned in the port city of Bremen.

The hand is placed imitating the shape of a fox’s head with upright ears and a closed mouth.

Authorities said the symbol risked being confused with the far-right’s “wolf salute.” Guardian reported.

The “wolf salute” is linked to the “Grey Wolves,” the ultra-nationalist youth wing of the Turkish Nationalist Movement Party, which is allied with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party.

The Grey Wolves are believed to have been involved in political violence that killed some 5,000 people during the 1980 coup in Turkey.

A spokesman for Bremen’s education authority said discussions were ongoing about the move, but the city felt it had no choice.

“The political meaning of the hand gesture is absolutely incompatible with the values ​​of the city of Bremen,” Patricia Brandt was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

She said teachers had long considered the move “pedagogically outdated” and its “regulatory style” condescending.

The ban was announced just days after Turkish player Merih Demiral sparked a diplomatic row by using the “wolf salute” to celebrate a goal during a European Championship match, which has just ended in Germany.

The defender made the gesture with his fingers after scoring his team’s second goal in their round of 16 win over Austria.

“Symbols of the Turkish far right have no place in our stadiums,” German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a message on X. “Using the European football championship as a platform for racism is completely unacceptable.”

Ms Faeser also said the Grey Wolves group was being monitored by German domestic intelligence services.

A diplomatic row erupted when Turkey summoned the German ambassador to Ankara to protest Ms Faeser’s conviction.

European football’s governing body UEFA handed Demiral a two-match ban following an investigation.

Demiral said he had planned the gesture and was proud of it. “I had a specific celebration in mind. That’s what I did. It has to do with Turkish identity, because I’m very proud to be Turkish,” he said.

President Erdogan joined Turkish football fans in criticising the ban, calling it politically motivated.

“To put it bluntly, the two-match ban handed down by UEFA to Merih has cast a serious shadow over the championship,” he told reporters on a plane from Berlin. “It cannot be explained, it is a purely political decision.”

The German-Israeli Society said the Grey Wolves posed a threat to Jews as well as Armenians, Greeks and Kurds, and called on authorities to ban the group.

“The ideological superiority of these fascist nationalists endangers public safety,” the company’s director, Volker Beck, said in a statement.