Funeral held for Turkish-Bulgarian family killed in arson attack in northwestern Germany

By Anadolu staff

BERLIN (AA) - A funeral was held on Tuesday for four members of a Turkish-Bulgarian family who were killed in an arson attack in the northwestern German city of Solingen.

More than a hundred community members, friends and relatives gathered at a mosque in the central city for the funeral service, prayed for the victims, and demanded a full investigation.

Ismail Kuncho Zhilov (29) and his wife Kiymet Katya Zhilov (28), their two children Gizem Galia (2) and three-month-old Elis Emily were killed in the fire on the night of March 25.

Prosecutors have said the fire was intentionally set, as investigators have found clear remains of an accelerant in the wooden stairwell of the four-story house.

Wuppertal’s public prosecutor Heribert Kaune-Gebhard told local media that the investigations were continuing “in all directions”. But he also noted that so far, they have not found any evidence of a racist or xenophobic motive behind this.

As many as 21 people were rescued from the building, with nine taken to the hospital with serious injuries. Almost all residents of the four-story house were immigrants, and Turkish nationals were among those injured.

Turkish Ambassador Ahmet Basar Sen visited Solingen last week, met with the relatives of the victims and promised that Türkiye would be closely following the investigation.

“The investigations have to go in all directions, the motive behind this must be revealed in all its details, and the perpetrators should be punished with the harshest penalties,” he told reporters, after visiting a hospital to meet with those injured in the arson attack.

- 1993 Solingen arson attack

Three decades ago, a far-right arson attack in Solingen killed five members of a Turkish immigrant family, in one of the most severe instances of racist violence in modern Germany.

Their house was set ablaze by neo-Nazis amid growing resentment against immigrants and foreigners, after the unification of East and West Germany.

Three girls, Saime Genc, Hulya Genc and Gulustan Ozturk, and two women, Hatice Genc and Gursun Ince, were killed, while 14 others, including several children, were wounded.

Police arrested four right-wing extremists who were sentenced to 10-15 years in prison.

They were released after serving their sentences.