While Turkey eliminates PKK-affiliated YPG terrorists with its Operation Olive Branch in Syria, Turkish people and their establishments in Germany continue to be a target for the sympathizers of the PKK, who have conducted 37 attacks in Germany so far this year.
According to the Funke Media group's report, which was based on information from the German Interior Ministry, 37 attacks targeted Turkish establishments in Germany in 2018 while last year the number of attacks was 13. The Interior Ministry spokesperson told the Funke Media group that these numbers might rise soon.
Following Turkey's Operation Olive Branch, the supporters of the terrorist organization PKK have increased assaults on Turkish communities abroad, particularly in Germany. Turkish institutions, schools and mosques have been attacked by the terrorist sympathizers, increasing security concerns of Turkish people as the authorities fail to act. The sympathizers of the terrorist group have been conducting campaigns based on false claims, and Turkey has clearly stated that its operation in Syria does not target any civilians but terrorists.
In one of the attacks Koca Sinan Mosque in the German capital city of Berlin was set ablaze on March 10. The attack on Koca Sinan Mosque came only a day after another attack on the Turkish community on German soil. Akşemsettin Mosque in Lauffen in Baden-Württemberg was the target of a Molotov cocktail attack as well.
With an aim of showing solidarity against the ongoing assaults on the Turkish community, more than 1000 people gathered in front of the Koca Sinan Mosque on March 16 to perform the Friday prayer.
Meanwhile, according to data compiled by the Political, Economic and Social Research Foundation (SETA), the attacks on the Turkish community's establishments by the followers of the PKK terrorist group across European cities has increased by more than 500 percent.
Germany has a 3 million-strong Turkish community, many of whom are second and third generation German-born citizens of Turkish descent whose grandparents moved to the country during the 1960s.
In the face of growing threats directed at the Turkish community in Germany, Ankara has been calling on Germany not to tolerate the PKK, stressing that security officials need to bring the perpetrators to justice and take necessary measures to prevent new attacks. Turkey expects German authorities not to be indifferent to the PKK's campaigns within the country.
The Turkish government had also sent a diplomatic note to Germany over recently escalating PKK aggression in the country last week and stressed that developments in the country would be closely monitored.
The PKK has been banned in Germany since 1993, but it remains active, with nearly 14,000 followers among the country's Kurdish immigrant population. Turkey has long criticized Germany for not taking serious measures against the PKK, which uses the country as a platform for their fund-raising, recruitment and propaganda activities.