Renown football star Mesut Ozil has successfully drawn attention to the extent of racism and discrimination in Germany by quitting the national team after being attacked by almost all sides in Germany for meeting Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Ozil’s statement raised eyebrows against Germany about how especially Turkish minority have been treated. Even Chancellor Angela Merkel and the president Frank Walter Steinmeier got involved in the discussions. They both made some self-criticism of discrimination and racism in Germany. But the problem still lingers. Turks in Germany are subjected to racism at different levels on a daily basis. And what Yigit family has gone through in the past two years proves racism has been systematically constitutionalized and state apparatus have been protecting the attackers.
Yigit family bought a house in the northwestern German city of Herne back in 2015. The family of 5 could finally live in their own house happily ever after. But their lives turned into a horror story after a racist neighbor discovered a Muslim Turkish family had moved in on his street. “He first came to in front of our house and started yelling Islamophobic slurs. We called the police right way but police told us that We would be safe as long as we stay inside our house,” said 48 years old Ramis Yigit. Herne police did not even bother coming over to see the situation. In the upcoming months, the attacks continued in creative ways. The racist neighbor at one point actually flew a drone over Yigit family’s house. “We heard gunshots. We were scared but it was weird, different. I tried to protect my kids thinking we were being shot at. After a while I realized something else was up. I went outside only to discover that the gunshots were coming from a speaker attached to the drone flying over our house,” said Ramis who still bears the fear of that night.
SOLINGEN-LIKE MASSACRE ATTEMPT WENT UNPUNISHED!
Few months after, members of this Turkish -German family had a nice homemade dinner on a Saturday night. Everyone went to bed around midnight after spending sometime together. And few hours into their sleep, the family woke up to a laud explosion. The attacker had set their car on fire and it blew up after burning for a while to the whole house caught on fire. The front of the house being totally covered with flames, the family escaped death by using the back door. The mother, Emine Ramis, still shakes in fear when she talks about that night. She says if it was not for the laud explosion, they would not have waken up. “We would either suffocate or burn to death with my kids,” Emine mumbled.
Police investigation found no evidence to make an accusation or an arrest. The investigation was dropped after a few months. Yigit family did not see who burnt the car but they believe it could not be anybody other than their neighbor who have openly attacked them several times.
What 23 years old Esra, the eldest sibling of Yigit family, had to face just shows there is no sign of ending to their 2 year long ordeal. The neighbor attacked Esra with paper-spray when she was standing right outside of their door one evening. They called the police and press charges. Esra can not believe the judge actually asked her how she knows that it was paper-spray not hair spray. ” And the worst part is the judge asked me what was I doing outside at a such late hour,” said Esra. “The judge was totally trying to justify the attack, protecting a more German attacker over less German victim,” she continued.
Yigit family’s two year long ordeal not just shows how Turkish minority have constantly been facing racist attacks but also how constitutionalized racism mainly in police and justice keep protecting the attackers. The family now pleas to German president Steinmeier and prime minister Merkel for help. “If they dont act now, what we see in Chemnitz now could quickly spread and get out if hand,” warned the father Ramis.
Diaspora Daily 