Turkey remembers victims of 1993 German arson attack

ANKARA Turkey on Wednesday remembered the victims of a 1993 racist arson attack in Germany which killed or injured nearly 20 members of a Turkish family. “We commemorate with respect and mercy our five citizens who were massacred as a result of the arson attack perpetrated against their house by a group of xenophobes and racists in Solingen, Germany, on 29 May 1993,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The anniversary came days after anti-immigrant and extremist far-right parties made sizeable gains in European elections, including in Germany. Stressing that Turkish people still feel deep sorrow over the attack, the ministry added: “We wish such an incident would never happen anywhere else in the world." The statement also called for social unity with the help of politicians and the media to battle rising Islamophobia and racism in Europe. It stressed the need to learn lessons from this tragedy and take effective measures to prevent future attacks. It also praised the decision by Germany’s state of Northern Rhine-Westphalia to establish a medal named after the one of the attack’s survivors -- the Mevlude Genc Medal -- for people who contribute to tolerance and intercultural reconciliation. The Genc immigrant family were victims of the 1993 Solingen arson attack. Three girls and two women were killed, and 14 were injured, including several children, by the fire set by four young far-right extremists. Three of the assailants were sentenced to 10 years in jail, while a fourth got 15 years.