{"id":12769,"date":"2026-05-12T17:45:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T17:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/12769\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T17:45:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T17:45:09","slug":"turkish-community-warns-of-rising-anti-immigrant-climate-in-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/12769\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkish community warns of rising anti-immigrant climate in Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A leading Turkish community organization in Germany warned Tuesday that growing anti-immigrant rhetoric and increasing far-right violence are fueling anxiety among migrant communities, particularly in eastern Germany, as support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party continues to rise.<\/p>\n<p>G\u00f6kay Sofuo\u011flu, chairman of the Turkish Community in Germany (TGD), said the deteriorating environment has moved beyond political discourse into physical threats and violence, as right-wing extremists feel encouraged by the AfD\u2019s high polling numbers in the eastern states.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;For us, the security situation in eastern Germany is not an abstract debate-it is a matter of very real fears,&#8221; Sofuo\u011flu said in a statement. He called on the politicians and authorities to take appropriate measures to restore a sense of safety for immigrant groups that feel increasingly targeted.<\/p>\n<p>The warning comes as the AfD seeks to convert its strong poll numbers into governing power in several regions for the first time. The party is making a major push ahead of September\u2019s state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony-Anhalt \u2013 two eastern states where xenophobic incidents have risen disproportionately.<\/p>\n<p>Sofuo\u011flu noted that while the national average for right-wing violent crimes stands at 51 per 100,000 inhabitants, the figures nearly triple in the east. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the rate is 145 per 100,000, while Saxony-Anhalt follows closely at 142.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Relative to its population size, the risk of becoming a victim of right-wing violence is particularly high in eastern Germany,&#8221; Sofuo\u011flu said.<\/p>\n<p>The community leader highlighted a recent incident in the eastern state of Brandenburg as an example of a growing culture of impunity and public indifference. Almost a week ago, two men on a regional train reportedly shouted racist slurs at two women wearing headscarves, telling them to &#8220;go to Auschwitz.&#8221; According to Sofuo\u011flu, no passengers intervened, and the train conductor allegedly refused to call the police to avoid travel delays.<\/p>\n<p>Sofuo\u011flu said they are receiving information about an increase in similar incidents, which often go unreported in official statistics.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Eastern Germany is becoming an increasingly serious security issue for people who look like me, and I am truly deeply concerned for the people living there,&#8221; Sofuoglu said, adding that the state authorities should live up to their &#8220;paramount duty&#8221; to ensure that all residents can live in freedom and safety.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If we can no longer do so, then I can no longer place my trust in this state,&#8221; he said. &#8220;This is currently how millions of people in Germany feel.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>                    <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/JN9LXf.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n                    The Daily Sabah Newsletter\n                <\/p>\n<p>\n                    Keep up to date with what\u2019s happening in Turkey,<br \/>\n                    it\u2019s region and the world.\n                <\/p>\n<p>                    SIGN ME UP\n                <\/p>\n<p>\n                    You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.<br \/>\n                    This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.\n                <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A leading Turkish community organization in Germany warned Tuesday that growing anti-immigrant rhetoric and increasing far-right violence are&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12770,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[452,13815,5,13813,13814],"class_list":{"0":"post-12769","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-germany","8":"tag-afd","9":"tag-far-right-violence","10":"tag-germany","11":"tag-racism-in-germany","12":"tag-turks-in-germany"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}