At Least 950 Attacks Targeted Muslims In Germany Last Year Alone, Turkish Interior Ministry Says

At Least 950 Attacks Targeted Muslims In Germany Last Year Alone, Turkish Interior Ministry Says

10 May 2018

Daily Sabah

Interior Ministry figures show that at least 950 attacks occurred in Germany on Muslims and Islamic institutions last year, the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung reported Saturday.

At least 33 people were injured in the attacks, almost all of which were carried out by people on the extreme-right, according to the figures, which were provided after a request from the Left Party.

Almost 60 incidents involved attacks or damage inflicted on mosques and other Islamic institutions, including the smearing of pig's blood on buildings.

The crimes recorded included the incitement of hatred against Muslims, threatening letters, attacks on women wearing headscarves, and Nazi-themed graffiti sprayed on mosques and other buildings.

In addition to the extreme-right, sympathizers of PKK terrorist group, supposedly pursing a left-wing ideology, frequently attack Turkish individuals, mosques, religious institutions and community centers during rallies or individual attacks.

The German government has only collected data on anti-Muslim attacks since the beginning of last year, so there is no comparable data for 2016.

Aiman Mazyek, chair of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, told the newspaper he was sure that the crimes recorded did not represent all those committed against Muslims.

Last January, police began registering Islamophobic crimes under a special category, after calls by the country's Muslim community to take more serious measures against the growing number of anti-Muslim hate crimes.

Germany, a country of 81.8 million people, has the second largest Muslim population in Western Europe after France.

Among the country's nearly 4.7 million Muslims, 3 million are of Turkish origin. Many of them are second or third-generations of Turkish families who migrated to Germany in the 1960s and are well-integrated.

The EU's largest economy has witnessed growing Islamophobia and hatred of migrants in recent years triggered by propaganda from far-right and populist parties, which have exploited fears over the refugee crisis and terrorism.

Another Turkish Mosque In Germany Attacked With Molotov Cocktails

A mosque was attacked with Molotov cocktails in the German city of Kassel early Sunday.

Security cameras recorded the moments when four unidentified attackers hurled bottles filled with flammable liquid at the Yunus Emre mosque of the European Turkish Association at around 04:30 a.m. local time.

While the whole building did not catch fire, the mosque's windows were broken and its walls were damaged.

Mustafa Koç, chairman of the cultural center which houses the mosque, said that they shared the footage of the attack with police officers and said that he hopes the attackers would be captured soon.

"We find it worrying that attacks like these continue. We urge authorities to confront similar attacks that are carried out by unidentified perpetrators with care," Koç said, adding that he urges the Turkish community not to be provoked by the attacks.

At least 38 mosques have been vandalized in Germany since January 2018 according to official numbers.

Attacks on mosques have recently increased, especially by supporters of the YPG/PKK terror group after Ankara launched Operation Olive Branch on Jan. 20 to clear terrorist groups from Afrin in northwestern Syria amid growing threats posed by the region to Turkey.

Turkey recently delivered a diplomatic note to Germany, asking for immediate measures to protect Turkish community from YPG/PKK violence.

Germany has a 3 million-strong Turkish community, many of whom are second- and third-generation German-born citizens of Turkish descent whose grandparents moved to the country during the 1960s.

The PKK has been banned in Germany since 1993, but it remains active, with nearly 14,000 followers among the country's Kurdish immigrant population.

Turkey has long asked for more serious measures against the PKK, which uses the country as a platform for their fund-raising, recruitment, and propaganda activities.

Attacks on Turks in Europe stoke racism, Islamophobia

The Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) said in a recent report that the increasing number of attacks on Turkish communities in Europe have been encouraging racist and Islamophobic groups and put freedom of worship at risk.

"The attacks conducted by the PKK, the PYD and the YPG are in line with the racist, discriminative, anti-immigrant atmosphere and policies that have been influencing Europe," a report published earlier this month examining the recent assaults on Turkish people in Europe said, referring to the terrorist group PKK, its Syrian affiliate Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its People's Protection Units (YPG) militia.

It said that while assaults continue, some representatives of political parties not hiding their anti-migrant and anti-Islam views have been making statements that seem to encourage the assaults by PKK supporters and some European racist groups as well. According to the report, PKK supporters have been attempting to use European public opinion as a tool to disparage Turks and Turkey. "Sympathizers of these terrorist groups have been conducting propaganda on the same page with the European countries by attempting to create modern and free images of themselves," the report said.

Add Comments