Kurds in Germany: Fear is in the air

[TomSea]

Kurds in Germany: Fear is in the air

Following the attempted coup in July, the tense situation in Turkey has been mirrored within Germany. The Kurdish community here is growing increasingly afraid.

Ali Toprak doesn't know where to begin. The chair of Germany's Kurdish community advocacy group, the KGD, is shocked - and disappointed, not just in politicians, but in the German media, too.

"I've been on the ZDF [German state] television board since July," he says. "I get to represent the migrant population. Whenever I bring up subjects like this, there's embarrassed silence on the German side."

With "subjects like this," Toprak is referring to the rift in Germany's Turkish community. Toprak is afraid. In the interview with DW he speaks of a "witch hunt," and grows agitated. "Does someone in this country have to get killed by Erdogan supporters before German politicians will finally acknowledge the seriousness of the situation?" he asks.

Divided community

Around three million people in Germany, most of them Sunnis, Alevis and Kurds, have Turkish origins. They constitute by far the largest group with a migrant background.

Gokay Sofuoglu is the federal chair of the Turkish community in Germany. His organization aspires to represent the whole of the community, but at the moment this is very difficult. Terrorist attacks by the Kurdish PKK, crackdowns since the failed coup: Turkey's domestic political climate is charged with fear and hate. Will its internal conflict spill over into Germany?

Continued: Die Welt via http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/kurds-in-germany-fear-is-in-the-air/ar-AAlINcH