Just one day after a group of suspected racists set dogs on two Eritreans in northern Germany, a man and a woman of Turkish origin faced a similar assault in central Berlin.
Two unidentified suspects first hurled xenophobic insults at a 56-year-old woman and a 36-year-old man, while the two were outside a cafe on Berlin's Margareten Street. Then, one of the assailants shoved the woman, while the other suspect set the dog on the man. The man was injured when the dog bit him in the leg. The suspects fled when the two Turks called for help. Victims were treated at the hospital for the incident on Friday night, while German authorities launched an investigation into the incident. Police did not reveal the names of the two victims. On Thursday night, a racist group of six set their dogs on two Eritreans passing by them on a street in Germany's Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The group then hit the two victims while hurling racist slogans.
Islamophobia, anti-refugee sentiment and xenophobic attacks targeting Turks have risen in Germany over the past few years. The attacks were propelled by propaganda from far-right and populist parties and led to tense relations between Turkey and Germany, as numerous Turkish citizens living in Germany and mosques became the targets of far-right attacks. Ankara last year warned citizens to be cautious and act responsibly in cases of xenophobia, incidents of racism and verbal attacks. Germany has a three million-strong Turkish community, mostly descendants of "guest workers" who moved to the country during the post-WW II rebuilding of Germany. Racist attacks against Turks were rare earlier, but they gradually increased in th
e 1990s during which several Turks were killed in arson attacks by suspected neo-Nazis. Then came the murder of eight Turks by neo-Nazi gang National Socialist Underground (NSU) in the early 2000s. Since then, attacks have been sporadic but sufficient to raise concerns among the Turkish community as far-right groups went mainstream in the past few years, along with anti-Turkish discourse among far-right politicians.
