Turkish man dies after harsh intervention by German police, mosque attacked with Molotov cocktail

Rasa - Three incidents since Oct. 14 have raised concerns about the safety of Turks in Germany where Islamophobia and xenophobia run rampant amid an influx of migrants.

News ID: 424555

Date: 25 October 2016 - 19:06

A Molotov cocktail attack on Saturday night targeted a mosque and two alleged cases of police violence ended up with the death of a Turkish man.

On Saturday, Vatan Mosque in Wesel in Germany's North Rhine Westphalia state was attacked by unknown assailants who hurled Molotov cocktails on the exterior of the building. The attack targeted the Turkish Islamic Cultural Association complex where the mosque is located and both are run by the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DİTİB). German police said no one was injured in the attack while Turkish administrators of the association said the incendiary material did not harm the mosque and an investigation is underway to find the perpetrators. Yakup Çelik, an administrator at the association, told Anadolu Agency there was no one at the mosque or the association at the time of the attack but the upper floor of the building was the lodging of the mosque's imam and his family.

The attack bears similarities to a Molotov cocktail attack targeting Mimar Sinan Mosque in the state of Hessen in September as well as an attack by a homemade explosive at Fatih Mosque in Dresden in September. No casualties were reported in either attack while police did not identify or detain any culprits in both cases. Like Vatan Mosque, Mimar Sinan and Fatih Mosques are operated by DİTİB.

Turks make up one of the largest Muslim-majority minorities in Germany with a population of at least 3 million according to unofficial figures. Although they have already suffered racist and at times deadly attacks in the past, a recent increase in the flow of migrants especially from the war-torn Middle Eastern country of Syria, gave rise to racist and Islamophobic attacks targeting both Turks and other minorities.

Mosques in Germany are occasionally subject to attacks, ranging from Molotov cocktails to tossing of pig's heads.

Mosque attacks in Germany have recently drawn the ire of Turkey. Mustafa Yeneroğlu, head of Parliament's Human Rights Committee, has called Berlin to protect the Muslim community from racist attacks. Yeneroğlu said in a written statement that although mosques have been attacked occasionally, most attacks were not covered by the media. He cited a response to a question on the attacks by Germany's federal government and said 14 mosques were subject to "politically motivated attacks" between April and June this year, adding nine of them were the work of suspect or suspects with far-right motives while the other two attacks were carried out by supporters of the PKK terrorist group active in Turkey.

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