Turkey remembers 1993 racist attack victims in Germany

By Nilay Kar Onum

ANKARA (AA) - The Foreign Ministry on Monday remembered the victims of a 1993 racist arson attack in Germany that left five members of a Turkish family dead, urging politicians and media abroad to play their roles in preventing such attacks.

On May 29, 1993, four people aged between 16 and 23 set ablaze the house of the Genc family in the German city of Solingen, North Rhine-Westphalia, killing five people and injuring 14 others.

Three assailants were sentenced to 10 years in jail while the other convict was handed down 15 years’ imprisonment.

In a written statement, the ministry said: “Although 24 years has passed since the attack, the grief of the Turkish people is still fresh. We wish Allah’s mercy upon them.”

It said xenophobia and Islamophobia was on the rise, especially in Western Europe. “It is our hope that tragedies like the Solingen massacre will not occur again.

“In this context, we call on prominent personalities, particularly politicians and media representatives in countries where these attacks frequently take place to use uniting rhetoric, instead of divisive remarks and attitude,” the statement said.