Turkish association in Germany receives racist death threat letter

By Mesut Zeyrek

COLOGNE, Germany (AA) - A Turkish cultural center in the German town of Neuss received a racist letter with death threats, the head of the center said Tuesday.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Tansel Ciftci said the Neuss Turkish Cultural Center was the target of racists for the second time in two weeks.

"A letter came in the mail today. It was signed with a swastika and ‘NSU 2.0’ and included racist statements like 'We will burn down your mosques and kill you Turks,’" said Ciftci, noting that members of the cultural center as well as locals of Turkish descent in Neuss are in fear and anxiety over the recent incidents.

NSU 2.0 refers to the National Socialist Underground, a neo-Nazi extremist group uncovered in 2011 that murdered 10 people and planted three bombs.

"Two weeks ago, the windows of our building were broken in an attack on our association. Due to the frequency of these events, our members and those living here began to feel uneasy. We want the authorities to arrest those responsible and impose the necessary punishment," Ciftci added.

He further emphasized that they are living in the middle of Europe with death threats and called it "unacceptable."

Ciftci also noted that the police, to whom they filed a criminal complaint, had begun an investigation into the incidents.

Germany has witnessed growing racism and Islamophobia in recent years, fueled by the propaganda of neo-Nazi groups and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

With a population of over 84 million people, the country has the second-largest Muslim population in Western Europe after France. Among the country’s nearly 5.3 million Muslims, 3 million are of Turkish origin.