Turkey’s deputy PM condemns attack on mosque in Germany

WITTEN, Germany

Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus visited the Sultan Ahmet Mosque in Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia region Sunday that came under an arson attack recently.

Kurtulmus expressed his sorrow over the incident and noted that mosque had been unable to serve Muslims for their religious duties since the attack.

He strongly condemned the incident and said that such attacks against the Muslim minority in Europe were unacceptable.  

“Unfortunately, many such attacks against our mosques have happened in different parts of Europe for a long time,” he said.

The deputy premier noted that each year around 20 mosques faced such assaults in Europe.

“Around 300 mosques have been attacked since 2001 and this is not acceptable under any circumstances,” Kurtulmus said.

Surveillance camera footage showed a man entering the mosque early April 14 and pouring gasoline in the prayer rooms.

Recently, the number of xenophobic attacks in Germany has shown a dramatic increase and it has raised concerns that a new wave of racism and xenophobia could sweep the country.