Germany FM laments ‘shameful’ bias against Turks

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN (AA) - Germany’s foreign minister has called for stronger efforts against xenophobia and discrimination on the 25th anniversary of an arson attack in Solingen which saw killing of five members of a Turkish family.

“[Solingen arson attack] was an attack against all of us, against our values and peaceful coexistence,” Heiko Maas told Funke media group on Tuesday.

“It’s a shame that many people whose parents, grandparents or they themselves came from Turkey to Germany, still experience discrimination in their daily life,” he also said.

The Social Democrat politician called for a clear stance against all forms of xenophobia and discrimination, and urged stronger efforts to defend tolerance, cultural diversity and shared humanity.

Maas was scheduled to meet with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Solingen later on Tuesday, where the two ministers were expected to attend a memorial to commemorate victims of the arson attack.

A house of Turkish immigrant family was set ablaze in 1993 by four young far-right extremists aged between 16 and 23, amid growing resentment against foreigners in the country, after the unification of East and West Germany in 1990.

Dozens of xenophobic attacks between 1990 and 1996 claimed the lives of at least 18 immigrants and asylum seekers, and injured dozens more.

Germany has a three million-strong Turkish community, many of whom are second- and third-generation German-born citizens whose Turkish grandparents moved to the country as “guest workers” during the 1960s.