Far-right extremism reared its ugly head once again four years ago in Germany when Tobias Rathjen gunned down nine young people with migrant backgrounds in Hanau. Five others were injured in the attacks. Four victims of Rathjen, who killed his mother and himself after the incident, were Turks, a minority that has been subject to rampant racism and lethal attacks since they arrived in the European country in large numbers as "guest workers" decades ago.

Such attacks are nothing new for Turks, who make up the country’s largest minority, but the incident in Hanau on Feb. 19, 2020, left a deep scar on the families. Emiş Gürbüz, mother of 29-year-old Sedat, one of the victims, says the victims lost their lives, and they "lost their minds."

"I counted the every day since I lost him. It has been 48 months and 1,460 days," Gürbüz told Anadolu Agency (AA) ahead of the anniversary of the killings. Gürbüz joined families of other victims for "justice" and punishment of those "whose negligence paved the way for killings."

Gürbüz says authorities did not take responsibility for the attack, such as over a locked emergency exit in one of the venues where victims were killed. "The police emergency system also failed and they could not communicate. We don’t accept this. Police and local administration are responsible for these," she said.

Çetin Gültekin, brother of 37-year-old Rathjen murder victim Gökhan Gültekin, says such racist attacks will be repeated without measures, pointing out past attacks that inspired the one in Hanau. Gültekin also complained that the families of victims also faced threats from Rathjen’s father who lives in Hanau like them.

"Officials could not protect my brother and they cannot protect us now too. The father of this racist killer sends letters to families, letters with racist insults. It is like a ticking bomb. We don’t know if he is going to make a move on the families. We want him to be expelled from Hanau or close environs of places where families live," he said.

"It is us or him now. Either we will leave Hanau or wait for him to kill people," he said.

Gültekin finds solace in the rising opposition to racism across Germany in recent weeks. "Every week, hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets and shout ‘end to racism.’ I think it is the right time for that," he said.

Hanau Mayor Claus Kaminsky said the memory of the racist killings should inspire the whole of Germany to conduct an annual assessment of its fight against far-right extremism. "We are in a worse position in the fight against the right than we were on Feb. 19, 2020," he said in remarks quoted by German media.

"The good news is that we can see from the nationwide demonstrations that many people are standing up against it."

Many events are planned in Hanau on and around Feb. 19 to mark the fourth anniversary of the attack that occurred in the town east of Frankfurt. The largest was the demonstration on Saturday, which was called for by the February 19th Initiative, an organization that unites relatives and victims of the attack and supporters. The rally aims to remember the victims and send a "strong signal against racism, anti-Semitism and right-wing extremism," according to the appeal.

But Gültekin is worried about the rise of the far-right. "Authorities said the number of people attending rallies against far-right was 2 million, but we also saw votes for racist politicians up at 20%, from 9% before the Hanau attacks. I don’t know what’s wrong here. Authorities should take action. The least they can do is seize weapons from racists," he said.

Hayrettin Saraçoğlu, brother of Fatih, who was killed in the attack, said their questions regarding the attack were left unanswered, and he called upon authorities to shed light on the attacks.

Saraçoğlu also complained that racism increasingly making its way into politics. "Politicians still view foreigners as fodder for their election campaign with promises to expel them from the country. This policy of fear prevails," he said.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party could double its vote share in the European elections in June, a poll published last Tuesday indicates, with similar trends observed in other major EU countries. In the previous European Parliament elections in 2019, the party won 11% of the vote, putting it in fourth place. Now the AfD could win 22%, which would put it second only behind the conservative Christian Democrats, according to a survey from the INSA opinion research institute for the German news website t-online.

If the poll reflects what actually happens in the elections in June, the AfD would gain more votes than any of the three parties in German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition government. The survey, which was conducted between Feb. 8-12, shows that the Greens, which were the second-largest party in 2019, could see a large drop in votes.

Meanwhile, Portland Communications' survey outcomes also resonate with that of t-online's survey – the AfD could secure a second position in the EU election. However, the poll conducted at the end of January shows a lower vote share for the party at 17%.

However, the popularity of the far-right is not limited to Germany, the five-country Portland Communications survey revealed. Of the surveyed countries – Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland – voters have the highest preference for far-right populist parties in France, Italy and Netherlands. The rise of the AfD in opinion polls in Germany has caused consternation among mainstream parties and led to fierce debate in society at large.

Tens of thousands of people have joined anti-extremism demonstrations all over the country in recent weeks. For a country haunted by its Nazi past, the rise of a nationalist party has become a major concern.

'Identity crisis'

Abdullah Eren, head of the Presidency of Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB), a government agency for affairs of the Turkish diaspora, says Europe is embroiled in an "identity crisis." Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) ahead of the anniversary of the Hanau attacks, Eren said the incident sparked a message of unity between the Turkish and German communities.

Eren says Turks started emerging as a labor force across Europe in the 1960s and attacks targeting them started in the second half of the 1970s. They further increased in the late 1990s.

He said the YTB was instrumental in bringing the bodies of some victims to Türkiye for burial and also organized events in several Turkish cities to commemorate the victims. Eren said they followed the legal process after the attack but noted shortcomings in the prosecution process.

"Unfortunately, connections of the perpetrator were not thoroughly investigated," he said.

Eren also noted the YTB’s work on racist and discriminatory actions Turks faced abroad and that they were working to support citizens facing anti-Muslim sentiment. He urged members of the Turkish diaspora to report any discrimination or attack they faced to YTB. "In recent years, we see a rise in voter support for far-right, racist parties in many European countries. This is a major threat both for Europe and for our citizens living in Europe," he said.

He pointed out that most of the perpetrators of racist attacks were defined as "lone wolves," and investigations often ended without further probes into any organization or contacts of those perpetrators. "Whereas, there is evidence that they are usually connected to (far-right) networks. It is important to investigate the sources these people tapped into. We see Europe succumbing to a deep identity crisis, and we see its aftershocks. This is reflected as a reaction to 'others,' those who hail from other countries," he said.