The conflict between left-wing and right-wing groups eventually resulted in a military intervention in September 1980 when General Kenan Evren led a coup d'état. According to Daniele Ganser, at the time of the coup, there were some 1,700 Grey Wolves branches, with about 200,000 registered members and a million sympathizers. Following the 1980 coup, the Grey Wolves and MHP were banned and their activity was diminished. Turkish nationalists and others assert that the Grey Wolves were "used and then discarded" by the deep state in Turkey.