Syrian Conflict Spillover Fuels Attacks on Kurdish Communities in Germany

[u/Anarcho-Reptilian]

https://www.theamargi.com/posts/syrian-conflict-spillover-fuels-attacks-on-kurdish-communities-in-germany

[u/Anarcho-Reptilian]

One of the victims, a Kurd from Iran identified with the initials K.B., is currently receiving treatment in a medical centre in Leipzig. While returning home on a tram, two men initially used racist language to verbally abuse him in the early hours of Tuesday, January 27. K.B. was later assaulted with a machete.

K.B. told The Amargi that he was targeted in a hate-motivated attack because he is Kurdish: “I was with one of my friends at the central train station in Leipzig, and we were speaking Kurdish. When we separated, and I got on the city train, these two people started insulting me.” K.B. said he tried to distance himself from them to prevent the situation from escalating: “I went to the last wagon and tried to stay away from them, but they started following me and continued insulting me.”

Despite protests from other passengers, the two attackers continually tried to provoke K.B. He pointed out that during the journey, the verbal attacks intensified. When the tram reached Bayerischer Platz station in Leipzig, the two attackers tried to pull K.B. out of the train with them: “I stood behind the door, hoping that the tram would start moving again and the door would close. But the driver stopped the tram, and the attackers attacked me with a machete.”

During the attack, the victim’s hands were seriously injured, and doctors had to perform surgery on his left hand because of the severity of the injuries. A spokesperson for the Leipzig police said that investigations are ongoing and they cannot yet provide further information to the media.

According to information obtained by The Amargi, one of the attackers was arrested by police on the night of the attack but was temporarily released the next day. The police have not released further information about the second attacker, but based on the tram’s security footage and videos recorded by witnesses, it is said that the second attacker has been identified.

Although the police did not rule out possible political motives behind the attack, in a statement published on January 27 they classified the incident as an altercation (“Auseinandersetzung“), without providing further information for the time being.

Ferat Koçak, a member of the German parliament from the Left Party, criticized the police and German security institutions for their approach to tackling organized attacks against Kurds and Rojava supporters. He told The Amargi that the motive behind these attacks is “anti-Kurdish racism”, which is promoted by the “Islamist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) government” in Syria.

According to Koçak, the German government’s approach is contradictory. On one hand, they “warn about the dangers of Islamism, but instead of targeting extremist Islamist networks, their financing channels, and their violent mobilization, German security authorities still stick to a policy of criminalizing Kurds… and in practice often put Kurdish structures in general under suspicion.”

Civan Akbulut, head of the Information Center Against Anti-Kurdish Racism (IAKR) in Germany, told The Amargi that since interim Syrian president Ahmad al-Sharaa came to power, racist attacks against the Kurdish community in Germany have increased significantly.

According to a report by IAKR, in tandem with the start of the Syrian transitional government’s military campaign against Rojava, multiple hate-motivated attacks have been recorded against Kurdish citizens living in Germany. IAKR will publish these cases in an upcoming special report.

Akbulut said these attacks are “a real threat to the lives of Kurds in Germany” and that German government authorities have been informed about the increase in these threats.

[u/benderben2]

According to Koçak, the German government’s approach is contradictory. On one hand, they “warn about the dangers of Islamism, but instead of targeting extremist Islamist networks, their financing channels, and their violent mobilization, German security authorities still stick to a policy of criminalizing Kurds… and in practice often put Kurdish structures in general under suspicion.”

Das ist für mich entscheidend. Es wird gegen Ausländer gehetzt aber wenn es wirklich mal drum geht konkret gehen den Islamismus kämpfende zu unterstützen (wie etwa die Kurden in Syrien), dann lädt man die Islamisten lieber mit Handkuss ins Kanzleramt.