BERLIN, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Several senior policymakers in Germany on Tuesday issued statements against racism and right-wing extremism to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Solingen terrorist attack.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier appealed to citizens to remember the date as a warning against the devastating consequences of intolerance which continued to pose a risk in the present day. According to Steinmeier, the attack demonstrated the "responsibility of our community and institutions to protect citizens regardless of their origins."
Four right-wing extremists set fire to the house of the Turkish Genc family in the town of Solingen in North Rhine-Westphalia on May 29, 1993, killing five. The incident entered the history of the still young German Federal Republic as one of its deadliest terrorist attacks.
Speaking to the newspapers of the Funke media group on Tuesday, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas expressed concern that xenophobic sentiments were still harbored against the country's Turkish community. "It is shameful that many of those who came from Turkey to Germany themselves, or whose parents or grandparents did so, still face everyday discrimination," Maas said.
Similarly, Justice Minister Katarina Barley (SPD) cautioned that the menace of intolerance had not yet been overcome in Germany. "25 years after (Solingen), people in Germany are still threatened and attacked because of their ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation," Barley told Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland.
Annette Widmann-Mauz (CDU), the official integration commissioner of the federal government, urged policymakers and society to show more assertiveness in combating racism and right-wing extremism. "We need a culture of objection when people are discriminated and degraded. We need a culture of zero tolerance when people are attacked," Widmann-Mauz said.
A host of events has been scheduled throughout North Rhine-Westphalia on to mark the 25th anniversary of the Solingen attack. German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and survivor Mevluede Genc will both hold speeches in the regional capital of Duesseldorf.
Additionally, thousands of people are expected to join a public ceremony held in Solingen which will be attended by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevluet Cavusoglu and Germany's Maas among others.?