Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a written statement on the 25^th anniversary of the racist arson attack against a Turkish family in the city of Solingen, Germany, on May 29, 1993, that killed 5 Turkish citizens.

"We hope that these kinds of tragedies will not happen again," read the statement related to the incident and added, "However, we observe with concern that racism, xenophobia, and Islamophobia are on the rise although a quarter of a century has passed since the Solingen tragedy."

What happened?

The building where Turkish people were living was targeted arson attack on May 29, 1993, Saturday night in Solingen by four young German right-wing extremists.

Saime Genç at age 4, Hülya Genç at age 9, Gülistan Öztürk at age 12, and Hatice Genç at age 18 have burned to death in the attack. Bekir Genç, aged 15 and Güldane İnce, who was three years old, were saved as seriously injured. Bekir Genç, who had been in a coma for three weeks and underwent a total of 24 operations, has been on treatment for many years.

Four German criminals were tried at the Supreme Court of Düsseldorf, three of them sentenced to ten years and one of them sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

ILKHA