German arson attacks: community centre the latest in string of hits targeting Turks
Over the weekend mosques were razed by Molotov cocktails in Berlin
German security agencies are on alert for signs of violence against Turkish facilities in Berlin, Stuttgart and other cities, the Interior Ministry said, after fires damaged several Turkish-run mosques over the weekend.
Arsonists on Monday struck a Turkish community centre in the town of Ahlen. Firefighters on Sunday battled for more than 90 minutes to extinguish a blaze at the Koca Sinan mosque in Berlin.
It was the latest in a series of incidents police say may be linked to demonstrations by hundreds of people against Turkey’s military operation in the northern Syrian region of Afrin aimed at sweeping the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia from the Turkish border.
“The events in the region can stoke passions among Kurds living here in Germany,” a ministry spokeswoman said, noting that conflicts between Turks and Kurds were also playing out in Germany, which is home to about 3 million people with ties to Turkey, including many ethnic Kurds.
Over the weekend Molotov cocktails were thrown at Turkish community mosques in Berlin and the town of Lauffen, a cultural centre in Meschede and a Turkish vegetable shop in Itzehoe, where the windows of a mosque were also smashed. No one was wounded in the attacks.