Muslim gravestones vandalized in northern Germany, says head of Islamic group

BERLIN

Muslim gravestones were vandalized in northern Germany, the head of an Islamic association said Tuesday.

“We have received some visuals showing that some Muslim gravestones in the Stocken Cemetery in the city northern state of Lower Saxony’s city of Hannover were vandalized,” the leader of the Shura Association, Recep Bilgen, told Anadolu Agency.

He said the group visited the cemetery and informed authorities and asked them to investigate why the gravestones were damaged.

Bilgen drew attention to the fact that vandalization incidents in Muslim cemeteries have become more common in recent years.

Mosques have also received letters signed with the neo-Nazi alias, NSU 2.0, referring to the National Socialist Underground (NSU), a terror group that killed eight Turkish immigrants, a Greek citizen and a German policewoman between 2000 and 2007.

Bilgen said because of those attacks, the case should be investigated.

*Written by Ahmet Gencturk