Kurds injured in 'racist attack' in Germany

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Two Kurds in Germany were injured last week in a “racist attack” by suspected Turkish nationalists on a public bus. Following the incident, the two individuals were threatened and told not to go public about the case.

The Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that Kurdish activists Azad Yusuf Bingöl, 30, and Inan Ercik, 42, were attacked by Turkish nationalists one week ago on Friday afternoon in Munich in a bus.

“We were attacked in this way. It happens often, but many are afraid to go public and talk about,” Bingöl told Kurdistan 24.

“It was a racist attack and we were attacked because we are Kurds. The Turkish diaspora in Germany have radicalized and they attack Kurds, Armenians and anyone who doesn’t follow their world view.”

The incident happened onboard a bus where a group of five Turkish youth threatened the two Kurds, and one of them kissed a Turkish flag and his jacket and said, “Martyrs do not die, the homeland won’t be divided", a Turkish nationalist slogan, according to the victims.

Ercik was wearing a Kurdish scarf with the traditional Kurdish colors: red, green and yellow.

At that moment, Bingöl and his friend asked the Turkish group if there was a problem. Shortly after, the group attacked the two Kurds and Ercik’s nose was broken. The person with the Turkish flag ran away before the police arrived.

“He spit me in my face, so I had to do a test for the coronavirus.”

The bus driver called the police.

This incident did not end there, however. As yet unidentified persons are allegedly threatening the two Kurds and their families not to go public with the case. “We know where you live and your families,” Bingöl said he was told in messages.

“Luckily it happened to us and not someone else, we know how to articulate ourselves and talk about (this issue). Many people would have been afraid (after such an attack).”

Bingol is a member of the Migration Advisory Board, where he had intense discussions with Turkish nationalists. “My Turkish passport was also canceled, and the Turkish state is active here (in Germany). The incident might be related to the Turkish state.”

“They call on Turks (abroad) to attack traitors and terrorists. This is also shown in several cities in Europe.”

Tensions have risen between the large Kurdish and Turkish communities in Europe after the breakdown of the peace process between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Turkish state.

Kerem Schamberger, a research associate at the Institute for Communication Science and Media Research of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, told Kurdistan 24 that the incident shows the people who are in opposition to the Turkish authorities led by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) are not even safe abroad.

“Whether they are Kurds, leftist Turks or democrats who were forced to flee their home country Turkey, northern Kurdistan because of the repression they are exposed to. They are also not safe in European countries.”

“The two victims cannot go back to their home country because they are known as Kurdish activists who fight for democracy and Kurdish rights in Turkey. But even here abroad they are under surveillance by the Turkish regime, and oppressed by Turkish nationalists.”

“They are used by the Turkish regime to threaten Kurdish and Turkish democrats here in Germany. And this happens not only in Germany, but also in Austria as well.”

The New York Times recently reported that a man claiming to be a Turkish intelligence reported himself to the Austrian authorities and claimed he was ordered to shoot a Kurdish-Austrian former lawmaker Berivan Aslan.

“So the beating of these two Kurdish guys is just one incident of many,” he concluded.

Editing by Khrush Najari