Germany's insufficient measures encourage racist attacks: Expert

ISTANBUL

Despite the 31 years since the Solingen massacre, the German government has failed to take necessary measures, leading to continued racist attacks, according to Haci Mehmet Boyraz, a lecturer at Istanbul Medipol University.

The attack in northwestern Germany in 1993, in which five Turks were killed and 14 injured, was an act of racially motivated terrorism, Boyraz told Anadolu in an interview about racist violence in Germany.

He pointed out that the "footsteps" of the attack were heard months earlier in northern Molln, where a racist attack took place in November 1992, killing three Turks.

'German government has failed to take adequate and decisive actions against these attacks'

Boyraz criticized the German government's insufficient penalties for such attacks, leading to its persistence in the ensuing years.

He noted that racist arson attacks occurred again in southern Germany in 2008, in Hanau in 2020 and again in Solingen and Dusseldorf in 2024, resulting in the deaths of Turkish citizens.

Highlighting that racist attacks in Germany do not only target Turks, Boyraz said: "With the rise of the far-right, many attacks target foreigners deemed not belonging to the country. There's an increase in hate speech and racist violence against anyone perceived as non-German."

He emphasized that the German government has failed to take adequate and decisive actions against the attacks, leading to their continuation and broadening target base.

Boyraz criticized lenient sentences for perpetrators of the Solingen attack. "Four neo-Nazis were arrested and sentenced to only 15 years in prison. They carried out the attack in 1993 and were free by 2008. This shows the German government's failure to combat neo-Nazi ideology and provide substantial legal consequences for such actions," he said.

'Serious neo-Nazi structure within the German police'

Boyraz urged Germany to take significant steps to combat neo-Nazism and racism, criticizing the government's reluctance to address institutional racism.

He cited former Chancellor Angela Merkel's acknowledgment that "racism is a poison" in German society and pointed to systemic issues within the state.

He noted that the local government in Hesse sought a 120-year confidentiality period for files related to the National Socialist Underground (NSU) case due to their political sensitivity, later reduced to 30 years following public backlash. "This indicates a cover-up and a problematic relationship between the state and racist structures," Boyraz explained.

Noting that there is a serious neo-Nazi structure within the German police and intelligence agencies, Boyraz said 29 police officers were prosecuted for being neo-Nazi sympathizers in 2020.

Highlighting the need for stronger measures, he urged more severe penalties for racist offenders, increased funding and functionality for the anti-racism agency and protection for mosques akin to that for synagogues.

"Unless these steps are taken, we will continue to talk about racist acts in Germany," said Boyraz.

*Writing by Yasin Gungor