NGOs, just as the Grey Wolves, give us humanitarian aid." According to Egypt Today the National Intelligence Organization of Turkey (MİT) "is believed to be recruiting retired military personnel to provide support for armed groups operating in Syria, through the Grey Wolves Brigades." Some Syrian rebel groups have ties to Grey Wolves. One is the Muntasir Billah Brigade. Another is the Turkmen Abdulhamid Han Brigade. On 24 November 2015, the Turkish Air Force shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24M bomber aircraft near the Syria–Turkey border. The pilot was shot in mid-air parachuting toward land by Syrian Turkmen rebels under Syrian Turkmen Brigades. The Turkmen rebel group operated under the command of Alparslan Çelik, a Turkish national and a Grey Wolves member from Elazığ. Youm7, an Egyptian news site picked up a document allegedly issued by the Army of Conquest (Jaish al-Fatah), which claimed that it conspired with the Turkistan Islamic Party and the Grey Wolves in the December 2016 assassination of Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey. Russian-state run news TASS agency cited this in a news report. Thailand The 2015 Bangkok bombing is suspected to have been carried out by the Grey Wolves due to Thailand's deportation of Uyghur terrorist suspects back to China instead of allowing them to travel to Turkey for asylum. A man with fake Turkish passports using the name Adem Karadag was arrested by the Thai police in connection to the bombing and bomb making materials found in his apartment. Presence in Western Europe Austria In Austria, the Grey Wolves salute as well as its symbols were legally banned starting from March 1, 2019. It is punishable by fines up to €4,000. Turkey's Foreign Ministry condemned the ban. "[T]he “bozkurt” (“Grey Wolves”) sign, which is a symbol of a legal political party in Turkey and the “rabia” sign that is widely used by Muslims in many countries as well as in Turkey. We do not accept this and we strongly condemn it," read the Foreign Ministry statement. Turkey also called on Austria to "correct this grave mistake," because it "deeply offends Turkey, the Turkish community in Austria and Muslims." In early March 2019, Grey Wolves sympathizers started a campaign on Twitter by sending Chancellor Sebastian Kurz hundreds of photos of people showing the salute. Kurz defended the ban declaring people and organizations that do not accept democratic values, or fight against those values, have