Türkiye commemorates victims of 1993 German arson attack

Türkiye remembered the victims of a 1993 racist arson attack in Germany that left five members of a Turkish family dead.

“We commemorate with respect our five citizens who lost their lives as a result of the arson attack carried out by a group of racists in Solingen, Germany, on 29 May 1993, on the 30th anniversary of the vile attack. We wish Allah’s mercy upon them,” said the Foreign Ministry in a statement on Monday.

Yasin Ekrem Serim, Türkiye’s deputy foreign minister, will attend commemoration ceremonies which will be held in Solingen on Monday to mark the anniversary of the murders, it added.

The house of the Turkish immigrant family was set ablaze in 1993 by four far-right extremists, who were later arrested and sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison.

“On this occasion, we remember with respect all our citizens who lost their lives because of racist and xenophobic attacks as well as recently deceased Ms. Mevlude Genc, who showed an exemplary stance with her calls for restraint, despite losing her family members in the Solingen attack,” it said.

Türkiye “observe with concern that racism, xenophobia and hatred against Islam keep rising although 30 years passed since the Solingen tragedy,” it said.

“We emphasize once again that we should fight together against xenophobia, racism and hatred against Islam to prevent all kinds of discrimination and to ensure that these kinds of tragedies will not happen again.”

It also said that Ankara will “decisively maintain its fight at all levels and in every field against this hostile mentality, which poses a threat not only to a certain society but also to the whole humanity.”

Memories of the tragic night

The Genc family, which was the victim of the 1993 arson attacks, has called for stronger unity against racism and right-wing extremism in Germany.

Kamil Genc, who lost two daughters, two sisters and his nephew in the racist attack, told Anadolu that memories of the tragic night are fresh even after 30 years.

He said although many promises were made in the past years to combat racism, the far-right remains a serious problem in the country.

“I very much hope that one day we’ll get rid of racism. But as long as Nazi groups continue to exist even within the state, I don’t think that this will easily come to an end,” Genc added.