In Turkey, the increasingly xenophobic mood erupted for the first time in an attack by a mob on Syrian refugees.

In Ankara, several hundred Turkish citizens stormed the Battalgazi and Önder districts, where many Syrians live, in the central Altindag district on Wednesday evening.

The predominantly young Turks attacked the shops and houses that they believed belonged to Syrians.

Videos were circulated on social media showing how the attackers threw objects on the streets, furniture and also the groceries of a shop, and set them on fire.

At least one car was also set on fire.

Rainer Hermann

Editor in politics.

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After the security forces intervened massively, the governor of Ankara announced after midnight that the situation was under control. The government-critical journalist Hasan Cemal wrote on the opposition website T24 that the events reminded him of the 1993 riots in Mölln and Solingen. The attack on the Syrians was triggered by a confrontation the previous evening in Altindag Park. Two warring groups met, including Syrian youths. Two Turkish youths were stabbed with a knife. While one of the two continues to be treated in a hospital, the other succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday. When the news of his death became known, several hundred Turkish youths gathered and drove to the two quarters.

Police use armored vehicles

The police meanwhile arrested two alleged perpetrators of the knife attack, who are apparently Syrians.

Although police are stationed at central points as precautionary measures in all districts of Ankara in which a disproportionately large number of Syrians live, it took a long time to get the situation under control.

Only the heavily armed riot police, which intervened with their armored vehicles, ended the pogrom mood and vandalism.

76 people were arrested.

During the attacks on Wednesday evening, Syrians were injured, there was property damage and, above all, a mistrust among the Syrians about the extent to which they can still feel safe in Turkey.

In Turkey, the mood against the refugees is becoming more aggressive. While the AKP government tries to get them, the opposition parties CHP and Iyi tighten their rhetoric. At the beginning of the week, the CHP mayor of Bolu said that the “foreigners” would simply not leave, even if their aid was cut short and they were no longer given a business permit. Therefore, he decided to increase their water price and sewage charges by ten times. The public prosecutor's office then opened proceedings against him for abuse of office and discrimination.

The opposition leader and CHP chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu has repeatedly stated that he will send all refugees back to their countries of origin if his party comes to power. He blames “provocations” by the Syrians for the riots in Ankara. The xenophobic sentiment that the United States proposed this week that Afghans should be brought to safe third countries via Turkey, which the Turkish government also rejects, has fueled the xenophobic sentiment. The CHP mayor of Ankara, Mansur Yavas, complained about a loss of control in the country. According to a survey by the opinion research institute Metropoll that became known on Wednesday, 70 percent of Turks are calling for the borders to be closed to refugees.