German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned against anti-foreigner rhetoric on Tuesday as she met with members of the country's Turkish community to mark 25 years since the murder of five members of a Turkish-German family.
"Right-wing extremism cannot be referred to as a thing of the past," Merkel said before meeting Mevlüde Genç, a 75-year-old survivor of the attack, in Dusseldorf.
Genç lost two daughters, two granddaughters and a niece in the arson attack in the west German town of Solingen on May 29, 1993. The four Nazi-inspired attackers were found guilty of murder and sentenced to prison. They have since been released, having served their sentences.
"Too often, the limits of freedom of opinion are tested out in a very calculated manner, and taboos are used as a political instrument," Merkel said, making a veiled reference to the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party that won seats in parliament for the first time last year.
"Those who sow violence with words are willingly taking the chance that violence will occur," she said.
Genç, speaking after her meeting with Merkel, said she harbored no resentment or hate against anyone for the death of her family members, "except for the four people who made my home into a grave."
"Let us look ahead for the common good," said Genç, who became known in the aftermath of the 1993 attack for her emphasis on reconciliation and peaceful coexistence between native Germans and the Turkish immigrant community.
Earlier in Tuesday, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas expressed concerns that Turks living in Germany still faced hostility.
"It is shameful that even today many who themselves or their parents and grandparents came to Germany from Turkey experience discrimination in their everyday lives," he told Tuesday editions of the newspapers in the Funke Media Group.
Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said the attack was "a reminder that we (should) stand together against every form of extremism, against hatred and intolerance, and for peaceful and diverse coexistence in our society."
The state premier of North Rhine Westphalia, where Solingen is located, said in an interview on Bayern 2 radioWelt: "Be careful with words: words can lead to acts by such criminals."
"When you hear some of the speeches, also from right-wing populist parties, how the pitch is increasing against people, then you can only say that you can fight about politics, even about refugee policies ... but when it is directly personally at people, then democrats must stand together," Premier Armin Laschet said.
The Turkish Community in Germany (TGD) called for a broad alliance to combat xenophobia. "Right-wing populist arguments are again dictating the public discourse about flight and migration," TGD chairman Gökay Sofuoğlu said in Berlin.
Genç was obviously "never properly listened to," Sofuoğlu said.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu also addressed the gathering, saying that the sole purpose of his attendance was to send a joint message against racism and xenophobia, according to a translation from broadcaster Phoenix.
Çavuşoğlu said Monday he "commemorated with respect" the attack's victims, who were Turkish citizens. "However, we observe with concern that racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia are on the rise although a quarter of a century has passed since the Solingen tragedy," he wrote in a press statement.
Turkey is due to hold elections on June 24. Tensions between Germany and Turkey rose last year when German officials blocked Turkish politicians from speaking in Germany ahead of a Turkish constitutional referendum.
With one of the largest populations of Turkish migrants in Europe, Germany has approximately 1.4 million Turks eligible to vote in the June elections.