Turkey-linked mosque attacked with Molotov cocktails in Germany

BERLIN

A mosque in the southern German city of Ulm was attacked with Molotov cocktails early on March 19.

State-run Anadolu Agency noted that the attacks came amid threats from groups linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to carry out more violence in Germany.

The attack caused no injuries but minor damage to the mosque belonging to the Islamic Community National View (IGMG), one of the largest Muslim-Turkish associations in the country.

Despite a ban on PKK activities in Germany, PKK and PYD supporters have carried out dozens of rallies and violent acts after Turkey launched “Operation Olive Branch” on Jan. 20 to clear Syria’s Afrin district of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a group Ankara sees as a terror organization for its links to the outlawed PKK.

On March 18, the Turkish army and Free Syrian Army (FSA) units took “entire control” of Afrin city center in Syria’s northwestern Afrin district as part of the ongoing “Operation Olive Branch.”

More than two dozen attacks have been staged against Turkish mosques, associations and stores since Jan. 20 in cities including Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Aachen.

The PKK has been banned in Germany since 1993, but remains active with nearly 14,000 followers in the country.

Ankara has long criticized Berlin for not taking serious measures against the PKK, which uses the country as a platform for their fund-raising, recruitment and propaganda activities.

Germany has a three million-strong Turkish community, many of whom are second- and third-generation German-born citizens whose Turkish grandparents moved to the country during the 1960s.