Turkish victim of racist terrorism remembered on 19th anniversary in Germany

COLOGNE

Mehmet Kubasik, one of eight Turkish victims murdered by the far-right NSU terrorist group in Germany, was remembered on the 19th anniversary of his death on Friday.

The ceremony took place in the city of Dortmund.

A ceremony was held at the site where Kubasik was killed in front of his kiosk on Mallinckrodt Street on April 4, 2006.

His daughter, wife, Türkiye’s Consul General Taylan Ozgur Aydin, and Dortmund Mayor Thomas Westphal attended the commemoration.

Aydin and family members laid flowers at the memorial dedicated to Kubasik and offered prayers.

In a written statement, the Turkish Consulate General in Essen said: "We attended the commemoration ceremony for our late citizen Mehmet Kubasik, who was murdered by the neo-Nazi terrorist organization NSU in Dortmund on April 4, 2006. Our grief remains fresh. On this occasion, we respectfully remember Mehmet Kubasik and extend our condolences to his grieving family."

NSU terrorist group

The existence of the NSU was accidentally uncovered in the state of Thuringia in November 2011, prompting an investigation by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office.

The NSU terrorist group was accused of murdering 10 people, 8 of whom were of Turkish origin, between 2000 and 2007, carrying out bomb attacks, and committing bank robberies.

The trial, which began in 2013, concluded on July 11, 2018, with the main defendant Beate Zschaepe sentenced to life imprisonment.

Four other accomplices received prison sentences ranging from 2.5 to 10 years for aiding and abetting the group.