Alleged xenophobic attack injures one Turk in Germany

A 65-year-old Turkish woman was injured in a suspected xenophobic attack in the central German city of Hannover, the police said on Thursday.

Hannover police spokesman Philipp Hasse told Anadolu Agency that a 36-year-old man was under investigation for attacking the migrant woman at a tram stop near the city’s central train station on Wednesday.

The suspect, identified as a Czech citizen, was being investigated for intending to cause bodily harm, Hasse said.

Germany has witnessed growing xenophobia and anti-migrant hatred in recent years, fueled by the propaganda of neo-Nazi groups and the far-right Islamophobic Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

The police recorded more than 19,000 far-right crimes in 2018, according to the latest government figures, with extremists committing some 1,000 violent attacks against foreigners, immigrants or political rivals.

Almost 500 people were injured in attacks inspired by far-right ideologies.