HOW DO RACIST CRIMES AGAINST IMMIGRANTS HAVE REPERCUSSIONS in SOCIETY? “THE ANALYSIS of the NSU CASE in GERMANY" Arife DE

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HOW DO RACIST CRIMES AGAINST IMMIGRANTS HAVE REPERCUSSIONS IN SOCIETY?

“THE ANALYSIS OF THE NSU CASE IN GERMANY"

Arife DEMİR

The Degree of Master of Science Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Migration Studies Thesis

Bursiyer ve Programa Ait Bilgi Formu

Adı-Soyadı Arife DEMİR

Sözleşme No. TR2016/DG/04/A1-01/0907

Başvuru Yaptığı Sektör Kamu (Kamu-Üniversite-Özel Sektör) Başvuru Esnasında Bağlı Bulunulan Yurtdışı Türkler ve Akraba Topluluklar Kurum Başkanlığı Başvuru Esnasında Bağlı Bulunulan Uzman Kurumdaki Unvan Çalışma Alanı (AB Müktesebat Başlığı) Adalet, Özgürlük ve Güvenlik

Öğrenim Görülen Ülke İspanya

Öğrenim Görülen Şehir Barcelona

Programın Öğretim Dili İngilizce

Üniversite Universitat Pompau Fabra

Fakülte Siyaset Bilimi

Bölüm Göç Çalışmaları

Program Adı Yüksek Lisans Programın Başlangıç/Bitiş Tarihleri (PDS 25.09.2018/15.09.2019 belgesindeki tarihler) Öğrenim Süresi (ay) 12 How do racist crimes against immigrants have repercussions in society? Tez/Araştırma Çalışmasının Başlığı “The Analysis of the NSU Case in Germany" Danışmanının Adı/Soyadı Dr. Martin Lundsteen

Danışmanının E-posta Adres/leri [email protected]

Scholar and Programme Information Form

Name/Surname Arife DEMİR

Contract No. TR2016/DG/04/A1-01/0907

Sector as of the Application Date (Public Sector-University-Private Public Sector Sector) Institution as of the Application Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Date Communities

Title as of the Application Date Expert

Field of Study (i.e. EU Acquis Justice, Freedom and Security Chapter)

Country of Host Institution Spain

City of Host Institution Barcelona

Language of the Programme English

Host Institution Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Faculty Political Science

Department Migration Studies

Name of the Programme Master

Start/End Dates of the Programme 25.09.2018/15.09.2019 (as in the PDS) Duration of the Programme 12 (months) How do racist crimes against immigrants Title of the Dissertation/ Research have repercussions in society? Study “The Analysis of the NSU Case in Germany"

Name of the Advisor Dr. Martin Lundsteen

E-mail of the Advisor [email protected]

İÇİNDEKİLER

ÖZET ...... i ABSTRACT ...... ii 1. INTRODUCTION ...... 1 2. CONTEXTUALISATION ...... 4 2.1. Racist Violence and the NSU Attacks ...... 4 2.2. Institutional Racism and Failures in the NSU Case ...... 5 2.3. Racist Violence and the Media Frame ...... 7 3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ...... 10 4. RESEARCH QUESTION ...... 12 5. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ...... 13 6. METHODOLOGY ...... 14 7. POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTION ...... 16 8. PILOT STUDY ...... 18 8.1. Preliminary Results of the Pilot Study ...... 19 9. LIMITATIONS ...... 30 10. POTENTIAL CONCLUSIONS ...... 32 11. BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 34 12. APPENDICES ...... 39 12.1. NSU Offences ...... 39

ÖZET

NSU olayları, faili meçhul cinayetlerin aydınlanmasından bu yana yüzlerce duruşma, on bir parlamento soruşturma komitesi ve önemli sayıda yayın ve kamuoyu tartışması ile Alman tarihinin en önemli örneklerinden biri olduğu gösterilmiştir. Konunun kamuoyu nazarındaki görünürlüğüne rağmen NSU davasıyla ilgili yazınsal çalışmalar gazete haberleri ve az sayıda Almanca yayınla sınırlıdır. NSU davasıyla ilgili akademik çalışmalar ise, 2000-2012 dönemindeki gazete haberlerinin cinayetlere ilişkin söylem analizi ve medya tarafından oluşturulan cinsiyet stereotipleri konularına odaklanmıştır.

Bu araştırma önerisi, Türkiye kökenli ikinci ve üçüncü jenerasyon Alman vatandaşlarının ve göçmenlik geçmişi olmayan Almanların ırkçı şiddet, NSU cinayetleri, soruşturma süreci ve cinayetlerin medyadaki tasviri de dahil olmak üzere NSU davasının nasıl algılandığını araştırmayı ve günlük yaşamdaki ırkçı tutumları şekillendiren dilsel eylemler yoluyla anlamın inşa edilmesine bir bakış açısı sunmayı hedeflemektedir. Çalışma kapsamında, Türk ve Alman kökenli insanların toplumsal belleklerinde ırkçılığı nasıl anlamlandırdıkları, etnik kökenin ırkçılık algısını nasıl ve ne ölçüde etkilediği ve medya ve politik söylemin ırkçılık algısını şekillendirmedeki etkisini incelenmiştir.

Sosyal gerçekliğin inşası ve eleştirel söylem analizine dayanarak analiz edilen pilot çalışma bulguları NSU davası ve yargılama sürecinin anlamlandırılmasına ilişkin kavramsal ve bağlamsal süreçleri ortaya koymada önemli veriler sunmuştur. Pilot çalışma sonuçları, NSU olaylarının yorumlanmasında meslek, eğitim düzeyi ya da demografik kriterler yerine göçmenlik geçmişinin etkili olduğunu göstermektedir. Veri analizi, bireylerin algılarının her etnik grubun ortak deneyimlerinden oluşan öznel sosyal gerçeklikten büyük ölçüde etkilendiğini göstermiştir.

Anahtar Kelimeler: NSU davası, ırkçılık, ırkçı şiddet, kurumsal ırkçılık, sosyal gerçekliğin inşası, eleştirel söylem analizi, toplumsal bellek, göçmenlik,

ABSTRACT

This proposed research aims to explore how Turkish immigrants and German natives interpreted the NSU case including the racist violence, undercover operations, investigation process, and the media portrayal. By analysing the stances that were taken by ordinary people, this thesis thus offers a perspective on the construction of meaning through the linguistic acts that shape the understanding of racist violence in the course of daily life. This text will examine how people of Turkish and German origin locate racism within the social stock of knowledge, how and to what extent their interpretations are attributable to their ethnic background, and how perceptions are shaped and constrained by media and politics.

The data gathered from the preliminary fieldwork has put forward significant results that enable us to have some insights on how Turkish immigrants and German natives interpreted the NSU case. By relying on the social construction theory of reality and critical discourse analysis, the findings have revealed significant conceptual and contextual processes by which the Turkish community and native Germans constructed the reality of the NSU case including the racist violence, investigations and the prosecution of perpetrators.

The preliminary results suggest that for this sample, not occupation nor education level, immigration background, is the crucial factor for the perception of the NSU case. Through initial coding and semantic analysis, each group’s particular historical, social and political contexts appeared as the main factors that affect interpretation. The data analysis indicated that the individuals’ perceptions were highly influenced by the subjective social reality that is constructed by the shared experiences of each ethnic group. Although the data was gathered from individuals, shared rather than individual interpretations of the NSU case significantly affected the conceptualisation process. Key Words: NSU case, racism, racist violence, institutional racism, the social construction of reality, critical discourse analysis, stock of knowledge, immigration

1. INTRODUCTION

Germany, known as a country of immigration, has witnessed the murders of nine ethnic migrants and three bombings between 2000 and 2007. Although it seems that the targets were chosen randomly, having a Turkish background (except for the Greek victim who was thought to be of Turkish origin) and running small enterprises were the common criteria for the victims (Behrens, 2017). Over the course of eight years, the police investigations have mainly focused on the immigrants’ families, their alleged connections with Turkish mafia groups and drug traffickers. More than a decade after the first murder, a Pink Panther video that was distributed to a number of major German media outlets has shifted the trajectory of the investigation. In the video, where the heroic moral cartoon character was used to illustrate the bombings and assassinations cynically, the National Socialist Underground (NSU) claimed responsibility for all these unsolved crimes. After two members of this neo-Nazi terrorist organisation – Uwe Böhnhard and Uwe Mundlos – committed suicide following a bank robbery in November 2011, the head of the so-called “NSU Trio”, Beate Zschape, sent the confession videos to the media outlets and surrendered to the police (Behrens, 2017).

The NSU trial, one of the most prominent post-unification court cases in German history, reached a conclusion in 2018 with a life sentence for Zschape, the only surviving member of the NSU Trio. The victims’ families and activists criticised the court’s decision by claiming that justice had been denied to them since the German authorities had used Zschape as a scapegoat to shield the real culprits (Uçar, 2018). Yet, the verdict failed to explain the serious shortcomings in the course of the investigation (Olterman, 2018). The structural forces behind the failures of the police investigation included the close connections between the German intelligence officers and neo-Nazi organisations and the role of the media in stigmatising the victims, which underscored the importance of addressing the broader picture of multifaceted racism. Eleven parliamentary investigation committees on the federal and state level were assigned to examine how the authorities, especially the police and secret services, failed to discover the existence of the far-right terrorist group despite the continuous attacks. Although the investigation’s inquiries documented numerous pieces of evidence indicating devastating institutional errors,consistently referred to as

“structural”,“multiple” and “systemic”, the members of the investigation committees denied that institutional racism lay behind these incompetencies. Nevertheless, the interacting causal factors which intentionally or unintentionally led to the discrimination against Turkish migrants stimulated a broader debate about the structural racism that is considered the biggest obstacle to the full integration of non- European immigrants in Germany (Behrens, 2018; Human Rights First Report, 2016; Parallel Report 2015; NSU Watch,2018). Thus, the racist violence of the NSU not only affected the lives of the victims, but also threatened the incorporation of all immigrants through shaking their sense of trust in the justice system. Rather than fostering effective social and political measures to eliminate the racist violence, the multiple failures of the state apparatus raised the question of whether these failures stemmed merely from individual negligence or from deep-rooted implicit or explicit racism embedded within the state system.

Beyond the state’s response to the question of how well institutions are willing to protect its residents regardless of their ethnic background, the reaction of the ethnic majority is fairly essential in terms of perpetuating or countering racism. Social cohesion can only be achieved by the willingness of the society to confront the unequal treatment of those who are racially marginalised (Burns, Hull, Lefko & Lindokuhle, 2018). Racism is not only an ideology but also “a process which is routinely created and reinforced through everyday practices” (Essed, 1991, p.3). How the ethnic majority reacts to the stigmatisation of racial groups can either lead to more marginalisation or it can confront racist practices. Yet, the perception of migrant communities who are the target of racist violence is significant in demonstrating the agency of immigrants in shaping their sense of belonging in the host country.

In this context, this proposed research aims to explore how Turkish immigrants and German natives interpreted the NSU case including the racist violence, undercover operations, investigation process, and the media portrayal. By analysing the stances that were taken by ordinary people, this thesis thus offers a perspective on the construction of meaning through the linguistic acts that shape the understanding of racist violence in the course of daily life. This text will examine how people of Turkish and German origin locate racism within the social stock of knowledge, how and to what extent their interpretations are attributable to their ethnic background, and how perceptions are shaped and constrained by media and politics.

Drawing on critical discourse analysis, this proposed research intends to understand the formation of social practices through the use of language within a theoretical framework of the social construction of reality. Prior to the discourse analysis, the role of the media and the institutional failures that led to the explicit denigration and humiliation based on ethnic difference will be examined to reveal the multiple axes of discrimination during the investigation and prosecution periods.

2. CONTEXTUALISATION

2.1. Racist Violence and the NSU Attacks

To account for the NSU case, racist violence will be one of the prevalent concepts in this research proposal. The concept needs further elaboration in order to be used and identified in a meaningful way that corresponds to the actual research purpose. The ideology behind racist violence has its roots in predetermined inequality based on observable or non-observable characteristics. Thus, the NSU murders bear the hallmarks of racist violence that comprises the victimisation of persons and property because of “their perceived connection, attachment, affiliation, support or membership of a group on the basis of their race, ethnicity, national origins, skin color, language, religion or belief” (Iganski, 2001, p.6).Although the legal definition of a racist crime differs from country to country, it involves a criminal offence such as a public insult, defamation, incitement, destruction of property, attack or murder; even if the act was committed without intentional motivations (European Network Against Racism, 2015).

The modern history of Germany is characterised by an increasing number of racist attacks against migrants and minorities related to the upsurge of nationalism, ethnocentrism and racism across Europe (Björgo & Witte, 1993). Following the rise in instability during the first years of unification, a wave of racist attacks that were committed against foreigners of all descriptions reminded Germany of its sinister Nazi past. After dozens of migrants and refugees were seriously injured during the arson attacks on their homes in Hoyerswerda and Rostock, followed by the murders of seven Turkish women and two children in Mölln and Solingen, tens of thousands of German citizens staged mass protests across the country in solidarity with the victimised communities (Kaufman, 1998). Notwithstanding the national and international pressure after the incidents, the high number of officially recorded racist attacks still remained a significant problem in the country (European Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia, 2015).

The fact that the NSU could operate actively without raising the suspicion of the intelligence services for many years stirred the public fear in the resurgence of Nazi

violence. The NSU members committed twenty-eight crimes including fifteen armed bank robberies, two bomb attacks and ten murders across1 Germany from 1999–2011. All of the victims, except for the policewoman Kiesewetter, belonged to the “immigrant community” was stigmatised by the NSU as “enemies of the German people”. Thus, the selection of victims reveals the ideology of the NSU. Observable features such as appearance and names can be used to distinguish immigrants in the dichotomous worldview of a racist ideology. The exclusionary vision based on blood rather than on citizenship explains why German citizen Halil Yozgat was selected as a victim (Edinger & Schatschneider, 2016). Even a second- or third-generation immigrant who was born and raised in Germany was not regarded as a part of the superior racial group.

As Edinger and Schatschneider (2016, p.127) point out, the victims contrast with the racist stereotype of the “parasitic immigrant” who exploits state subsidies without making any contributions. Instead, all the victims were productive members of society who worked or were self-employed in small businesses. According to the Pink Panther clip made by the group to admit their crimes, they defined themselves as a network of comrades with principles.2 They asserted that as long as there were no fundamental changes in politics, the press and freedom of expression, their actions would continue.3 Thus, the integration policy was perceived as threatening the ethnic structure of Germany. Through bombs and murders, the NSU not only waged war against an ethnic community, but also against the multi-ethnic composition of German society. In this context, the symbolic choice of ordinary immigrants was meant to destroy social cohesion and promote insecurity among the immigrant community.

2.2. Institutional Racism and Failures in the NSU Case

Institutional racism refers to the collective failure of an institution to properly serve individuals or groups due to their race, culture, belief and/or ethnicity (Macpherson, 1999, p.49). By using different mechanisms, nation states have the power to develop

1 A detailed list including the crimes, victims and crime scenes is given in the Appendix. 2 Original version: ein Netzwerk von Kameraden mit dem Grundsatz. 3 3Original version: Solange sich keine grundlegenden Änderungen der Politik, Presse und Meinungsfreiheit vollziehen werden die Aktivitäten weitergeführt.

racial disparity and unequal access to economic resources, social services and the criminal justice system. The policy implications resulting from persistently disfavouring certain groups in the major social policy fields demonstrates the existence of institutional racism on the macro scale. Ethnic monitoring, pre-emptive criminalisation of racial groups, their lack of/limited access to key services and racist political discourses all serve the state in sustaining structural barriers for non-natives (Philips, 2011).

The central argument for the existence of institutional racism in Germany regarding the NSU case is the failure of the police investigation to make a connection between the nine murders of migrants with the same type of weapon, a Ceska 83, the bomb attacks and the bank robberies (Koehler, 2016, p.153). Despite the similarities among the cases, the investigation centred on the victims, their non-existent relationship with the drug-running Turkish mafia and the possibility of personal vendettas. Thus, the victims were blamed for their own murders until the NSU revealed itself as the perpetrator. One of the shopkeepers who was injured in a bomb attack on Keupstrasse expressed the tendency of the police to make the Turkish victims feel more guilty than Beate Zschape was made to feel.4 Regardless of the fact that racist violence tends to occur as a series of repeated offences, the elimination of the neo-Nazi link during the course of the investigation raised doubts about the causes of the failure to locate the offenders.

Although the Trio was already identified by the authorities in 1998 after a police raid on a storage garage in which pipe bombs, explosives and racist propaganda materials were stockpiled, the group managed to go underground for many years. Strikingly, it is unclear how intelligence services could not gather enough information to track the Trio, despite the existence of many informants close to their circle (Behrens, 2017). The destruction of the important intelligence files on the recruitment of extreme-right informants within the neo-Nazi circle just after the discovery of the NSU in November 2011 led to the domestic secret service having to face another cover-up claim (Spiegel Online, 2012). Numerous scenarios for why the authorities had not succeeded in this

4 From the interview with Arif Bey who was working in the street that was bombed by the NSU in 2004, by the researcher in Cologne, in May 2019

task, ranging from miscommunication between bureaucratic units, to intelligence services exceeding their limits to protect their informants, and to structural racism in state institutions all failed to generate satisfying answers to the questions raised by the victims’ families (Kushner, 2019). Consequently, the head of Germany’s federal domestic intelligence agency and the heads of three state agencies resigned. However, these resignations were interpreted as actions to leverage the public image of these institutions (Behrens, 2017).

In the context of the debates over institutional racism, this research will only focus on how it affects the perceptions of native Germans and those with a Turkish background regarding state institutions and the justice system. The perception of discrimination tends to be stimulated by a feeling of unfairness. This perceived discrimination is strongly related to subjective experience, as a person recognises discrimination due to the position of his or her group including race, ethnicity, gender and the group’s place in society (Liu et al., 2014). Becoming a target of institutional discrimination may have a devastating impact on the psychological state of individuals belonging to a targeted racial group. Thus, the perception of discrimination among migrant groups plays a central role in the relation between a sense of belonging to the host state and the group’s trust in state institutions. Besides migrant groups, the perceived institutional racism may affect a sense of justice among the majority groups. From this perspective, this research aims to explore how attributions regarding institutional racism have different meanings for the members of the Turkish community and native Germans.

2.3. Racist Violence and the Media Frame

To see the interaction between the media and people’s daily discourse, the racist attack coverage by the mainstream media constitutes a critical aspect of this proposal. The media is an influential tool for groups in power to maintain their control over the masses with its ability to situate various linguistic choices within discursive practices in line with a particular pragmatic or ideological agenda. Hence, the media not only reflects the social order but also manipulates the minds of readers and audiences with its symbolic and persuasive power (Van Dijk, 1996). Recognising the role of the media in the description and interpretation of the information, it serves to construct the social reality through changing some elements of the original information or producing

information in accordance with the expectations of power groups (Nišić & Plavšic, 2017). Moreover, which information journalists choose to report is crucial for agenda setting. By hiding or limiting some news, the media effectively blocks freedom of information and removes political problems from the public debate (Happer & Philo, 2013).

While reporting violent racist incidents, the media is expected to be more sensitive in terms of the content and the portrayal. The reproduction of ethnic stereotypes, sensationalist coverage on race issues, and ignorance of or over emphasising cultural traits can all lead to the formation of a social atmosphere that is tolerant of racist attacks (Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 1991). Hence, the media shapes the understanding of people towards racist violence not only by using ethnic stereotypes but also through micro-aggression in media reporting (Kulaszewicz, 2015). Relying on these descriptive images, the media orients itself to create an “other” that is different from mainstream society. Thus, signifying the race with micro- aggression and ethnic stereotypes may sometimes arise in a subtle way that is difficult to notice, even by racialised communities.

Regarding the NSU case, both the Turkish and German media have been widely criticised as they took the information from the investigating authorities for granted in their reporting. In line with the police reports, the media functioned to attribute the crimes of the NSU to the Turkish mafia or organised crime gangs rather than to neo- Nazis. The murders were seen as ordinary crimes until the discovery of the NSU; thus, exclusionary mechanisms for immigrants were introduced by the media due to the circulation of speculative reporting without firm evidence (Otto Brenner Stiftung, 2015). Further, the term “kebab murders” (Dönermorde), which was used by the German media to label these serial murders, produced a racial stereotype of the victims as kebab shop owners despite the fact that all the victims did not have the same job (Jones, 2017, p. 31). The media coverage not only created a perception that the perpetrators of the murders belonged to the Turkish community, but also stigmatised the victims’ families for many years.

As for the NSU case, the media discourse was shaped by a variety of factors including economic concerns, conflicts of interest, ideological forces and relationships among

various power sources. Another significant consideration in the media coverage is the pundits’ access to multiple forms of discursive formations. The degree of access to discourse formations differs from actor to actor on the basis of their social power (Van Dijk, 1996). The police, investigating authorities, bureaucrats and politicians have a direct and indirect impact upon the elements which comprise the media discourse such as through press releases, official statements and interviews. Thus, beyond their own influence to shape public opinion, public officials played a significant role in the media discourse as well. Therefore, in analysing the interaction between the media and the perception of individuals about the NSU case, how society responded to the media coverage will be another focus of this research.

3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The conceptual framework of this thesis draws on critical discourse analysis to explore how society responded to racist violence, the media portrayal and the failures of state institutions in the NSU case. Using Van Dijk’s critical discourse analysis on racism that includes the examination of syntactic structures as topics, local semantics, textual schemata, lexicon, syntax, rhetoric and metaphors (Van Dijk, 1995), the accounts of ordinary people will be analysed in light of the social contexts in which they were constructed. As critical discourse analysis allows us to explore the “quintessential psychological activities, activities of justification, rationalization, categorization, attribution, making sense of, naming, blaming and identifying” (Potter & Wetherell, 1987, p. 2), this research attempts to make the positions of individuals regarding the NSU case more visible by taking a critical look at their daily language.

As a result of anti-racist movements, the overt expression of racism and explicit racism has decreased over time. Whereas explicit racism reveals itself through demonstrating discriminatory ideas and attitudes consciously and openly, implicit racism produces prejudices and biases that affect the understanding, perception and actions of individuals in an unconscious sense. Because it operates subtly, the fundamental characteristic of implicit racism is denial. Wilful ignorance, blaming the victim, pretext, euphemism, justification, alleging provocation, reversal, positive self and negative other representations are the clues of this hidden racism that can be easily found in everyday conversations, newspapers and political speeches (Van Dijk, 1992). Since implicit racism makes it difficult to detect whether societal racism is operating in a particular society, racist violence is restricted to a narrower use as being excluded from the broader context of institutional and structural racism.

Racist violence is consistently framed as the choice of the radicalright whose ideology is only shared by a small fraction of society. However, racist violence takes its roots from a “territorial logic” that seeks to remove others from the “white terrain” (Ashe, Virdee & Brown, 2016). White supremacy not only draws the exclusionary line between white and black, but also highlights the distinction between North and South, citizen and foreigner, stagnant and progressive, and poor and rich, which all contribute to the reproduction of historical power relations (Balibar, 1991). Thus, racist violence

is not random; rather the targets are specifically chosen because their existence is regarded as a threat to the established order and texture of society. To what extent the ideology of racism has infiltrated society is an important dimension in order to understand the social environment in which the racist violence has been committed.

This proposed research employs the social construction of reality approach, drawing on the ideas of Berger and Luckmann (1966) who conceive reality as being socially constructed. The symbolic universe of societies serves to legitimatise the social reality that is created by the shared human experience. Yet, conceptual machinery becomes necessary to maintain the symbolic universe that has to be transmitted to the younger generations of any society. According to Berger and Luckmann (1966), power relations determine the sustainability of a particular type of conceptual machinery. Thus, the conflict of alternative symbolic universes is strongly related to power, as the one who possesses more power inevitably sets the definitions of reality in a particular society. Two social groups holding opposing views need to build up the conceptual machinery that is devised to reinforce their respective universes that are legitimised by cognitive and normative aspects (Berger & Luckmann, 1966). Hence, different ethnic groups living in the same society might have an opposing social reality, symbolic universe and conceptual machinery. In this context, by relying on the social construction theory of reality, this thesis aims to explore the process by which the Turkish community and native Germans constructed the reality of the NSU case including the racist violence, investigations and the prosecution of perpetrators.This proposed research intends to understand the extent to which the reality and knowledge of two communities differ from each other and how they justify their respective symbolic universes.

4. RESEARCH QUESTION

The central question during this research will be:

“How did the Turkish immigrants and German natives interpret the NSU case through the interaction between the media and politics, and what importance did the media and politicians hold for the perceptions of individuals in the NSU case?”

To answer this central question, further sub-questions will be asked during the research:

1. How and to what extent were the interpretations of ordinary people attributable to their ethnic background?

2. To what extent did the perceptions of individuals with different ethnic backgrounds create social and symbolic boundaries?

3. How were the perceptions of individuals shaped and constrained by the media and politics?

4. To what extent do the roles of media and politics differ for individuals with different ethnic backgrounds?

5. How did individuals with different ethnic backgrounds interpret the roles of the media and state officials in the NSU case?

5. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The central and sub-questions aim to achieve the following objectives:

1. To generate empirical insights into the perceptions of ordinary people with Turkish and German ethnic backgrounds on the NSU case. 2. To understand the influence of the media and politics on the perceptions of people regarding a specific case. 3. To contribute to the research and produce new evidence on how society interprets violent racist incidents. 4. To contribute to the formation of literature on the NSU case written in the English language. 5. To reveal the key social processes affecting the location of racism within the social stock of knowledge and the legitimisation process surrounding social and symbolic boundaries.

6. METHODOLOGY

Relying on a qualitatively-oriented methodology suitable for the analysis of the repercussions of the NSU case on Turkish immigrants and German natives arising from the interaction between the media and political discourses, this proposal draws on semi-structured interviews, group discussions and desk research. To gain more insight into the media response to the NSU case, I will combine the literature strands and media reports while embedding this relationship within the perceptions of people. Moreover, the proposed research will examine the parliamentary investigation inquiry reports and the statements of politicians on the NSU case with a view to exploring how various sites of political actorsinfluenced individuals, generated diverse impacts and affected the feelings and ideas of society. The social-, political- and media-level analyses will be used to understand how the interactions among different actors shaped the perceptions of people.

The empirical data for this research will comprise the verbal accounts of the NSU case that will be gathered from 2019 to 2010 from direct interviews with thirty individuals of Turkish origin and from thirty non-immigrant Germans in different cities in Germany. The participants will be chosen through snowballing from the cities where the NSU attacks were committed such as Nuremberg, Hamburg and Cologne. These cities have also been chosen for practical reasons as the density of the Turkish population increases the opportunity of conducting interviews with more people. To see how the NSU case affected ordinary people, the participants are expected to reflect the demographic dynamics of both focus groups. All ordinary individuals of Turkish origin will be second- or third-generation immigrants, with the assumption that they are expected to have integrated better into society than the first generation have. Since they were born, raised and educated in Germany, their degree of exposure to different institutional and social instruments are closer to native-born individuals than the first generation that makes comparing the perceptions of individuals more relevant for this study. The interviews will be conducted in Turkish and English by the researcher, and through interpreters for those who prefer to speak the German language.

Semi-structured interviews will be conducted to obtain more focused textual data that will allow the researcher to maintain a balance between strictly planned surveys and flexible open-ended questions. With this method, I intend to capture the insights of participants, since one of the primary concerns of the research is understanding and observing the reflections on the NSU case from the insider’s perspective.5

5 The list of questions is given in the Appendix.

7. POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTION

I suggest that exploring the repercussions of racist violence, particularly the NSU attacks, on the people of a victimised community and on the ethnic majority is important for several reasons. In recent years, researchers have become increasingly interested in the nature and causes of racist violence and have examined the phenomena in a broad range of disciplines. They have paid particular attention to some aspects of racist violence including the victims, perpetrators, the organisational structure, media discourse, police response, and the criminal justice and policy outcomes (Björgo, 1993; Bowling & Philips, 2002; Lentin, 2018; Mudde, 2005; Ray, Smith,& Wastell, 2000, 2004; Witte, 1995). In a few studies, researchers have analysed how racist violence was responded to by victimised communities with a specific focus on counter attacks, mass protests and political mobilisation (Ashe, Virdee,& Brown, 2016; Virdee, 1995). These studies suggest that the ways in which different racialised minorities create their own resistance against racist attacks shape public understanding by opening new channels of discussion up on their experience. However, besides organised responses, little attention has been given to the social construction of racist violence through the accounts of migrants and the host society using a comparative perspective.

Since its identification, the NSU case has been shown to be one of the most prominent cases in German history with hundreds of trials, eleven parliamentary investigation committees, and a considerable number of publications and public discussions. However, despite its importance, the academic studies on the NSU case are highly limited, with the journalistic efforts and academic publications only being in the German language. The academic studies on the NSU case have focused on the news media’s narrative on the murders for the period of 2000–2012 (Graef, 2018), and on gender stereotypes constructed by the media (Köttig, 2016). Further, the organisational structure, objectives, personalities and international links with organisations connected with other neo-Nazi terror groups of the NSU (Edinger & Schatschneider, 2016; Koehler, 2014; McGowan, 2014) have become another field of study for researchers. Besides academic studies, the reports from human rights organisations, legal texts and parliamentary investigation committee reports represent important sources of

information for those who have an academic interest in the case. This research will be the first study that aims to scrutinize how NSU attacks, investigation process and media frame have been perceived by the Turkish immigrants and German natives. Thus it is intended to provide an academic insight on how and to what extent the NSU case has affected the perceptions of individuals.

8. PILOT STUDY

I have conducted small-scale preliminary field research in Cologne and Dusseldorf to evaluate the feasibility of the main stages of the future full-scale research. The pilot study consisted of verbal accounts of the NSU case, gathered during April and May 2019 from directive interviews with 10 ordinary people from Turkish and German origin who do not have a direct relationship with the victims nor power groups. Cologne was primarily selected because one of the 2004 NSU bomb attacks had been committed on Keupstrasse, a Turkish-populated shopping street in the city. However, the selection of Dusseldorf is based on practical reasons, as it is close to Cologne, and the first participants contributed to the recruitment of further participants from this city.

The data was collected through semi-structured interviews with the participants, who were willing to share their ideas and beliefs about the NSU case. The semi-structured questions were designed to cover the significant components of the topic, which ensured consistency across the interviews. The NSU attacks, institutional racism, media coverage and repercussions of racism in daily life constituted the fundamental concepts of the interviews.

Each face-to-face interview lasted between 20–40 minutes, depending on the participant’s knowledge level regarding the NSU case and the use of a translator. As part of the interviews, a short questionnaire was designed to accurately describe the participants’ socio-demographic characteristics. Several people from Turkish background did not want their full names to be recorded openly. Therefore, I included only their first names on the table, respecting their privacy. Table 1 shows a sample of 10 individuals from different ages, education levels, occupations and genders participated in the field study. While half the sample was composed of individuals without an immigration background, the other half represented second- or third- generation Turkish immigrants. I reached the first interviewee through personal relations, and then the others were contacted through snowball sampling. The multiple entry points enriched the composition of my data source and enabled me to gain different insights into the complex phenomena.

Table 1. Description of Interviewees

Name Gender Age Education Occupation Immigration Level Background

Mirjam Female 52 High School Music Therapist NO

Erdoğan Male 44 University Quality Manager YES/2nd Gen.

Saltuk Male 22 High School Public Officer YES/3rd Gen.

Valerie Female 22 University Student NO

Frieda Female 21 University Student NO

Sinan Male 33 High School Driver YES/2nd Gen.

Jakob Male 22 University Student NO

Levent Male 45 High School Shopkeeper YES/2nd Gen.

Emine Female 48 High School Housewife YES/2nd Gen.

Veit Male 43 High School Foreman NO

8.1. Preliminary Results of the Pilot Study

The field study questioned how ordinary people located racism within the social stock of knowledge, how and to what extent their interpretations were attributable to ethnic background and how their perceptions were shaped and constrained by media and politics. Thus, the main aim of this pilot study was how Turkish immigrants and German natives interpreted the NSU case, including the racist violence, the investigation process and the media frame of the attacks. The preliminary results suggest that for this sample, immigration background, not occupation nor education level, is the crucial factor for the perception of the NSU case. Through initial coding and semantic analysis, each group’s particular historical, social and political contexts appeared as the main factors that affect interpretation. The data analysis indicated that

the individuals’ perceptions were highly influenced by the subjective social reality that is constructed by the shared experiences of each ethnic group. Although the data was gathered from individuals, shared rather than individual interpretations of the NSU case significantly affected the conceptualisation process. Since different racial groups living in the same society might have opposing social realities, the conceptions of meanings and the interpretation processes are constructed differently (Essed, 1997).

All participants converged upon the explicit denigration of the racist attacks and the ideology of the NSU that imposes the superiority of Germans over other ethnic groups. The attacks were commonly described as shocking, unacceptable, terrifying and upsetting. However, for most of the Turkish participants, the role of the state in the case was as shocking as the attacks themselves.

When I first heard of these murders, I was shocked. Not because of the murders themselves, because I heard before that such murders happened (Solingen, Mölln). What was shocking was that state institutions that I trusted were part of this. (Saltuk, 22)

What is even more upsetting (than the murders) is that the government hasn’t noticed this organisation for many years and the investigation was carried out negligently by the police. (Erdoğan, 44) 15

Other differences in the individuals’ accounts were their past attributions to racist violence while explaining the NSU violence. Whereas for German people, the NSU violence was strongly associated with the Nazi past, for Turkish people, it was more related with the racist arson attacks in Molln (1992) and Solingen (1993), in which six Turkish people were burnt to death. Individual differences in attributing one’s shared past to the explanation of racist events inevitably influence inter-group evaluations (Branscombe, Schmitt,& Harvey, 1999). Thus, despite various hate crimes and racist violence incidents, the NSU attacks triggered their own collective memory shaped by narratives that unify the communities through time.

If my grandfather was one year older, he would have been recruited, and he would have to go to the Hitler Youth. So, he is still sensitive about racism and racist violence. The NSU attacks have reminded him of the old days. (Frida, 21)

It shocked me as we all know what happened in the past (Nazi period). I always thought that we should have had a lesson from those incidents. I still can’t believe that we haven’t learned anything. But, yes, but unfortunately yes. (Miriam, 52)

NSU is nothing different than Solingen. Here, the important question is how the state dealt with this problem. (Sinan, 33)

Also, you know, in Germany, there were assaults targeted at Turkish people and other immigrants in the past. In Solingen, Mölnn….(Erdoğan, 44)

I heard before that such murders happened (Solingen, Mölln).(Saltuk, 22)

When intersubjective sedimentation is objectivated, it can be a socially accepted phenomenon, and only then can the shared experiences be transmitted from one generation to another (Berger &Luckman, 1966). Regarding the past attributions to racist violence, as the age and generation do not represent a significant difference in individuals’ accounts, each group’s collective experience seemed to be transmitted to the younger generations. Therefore, while none of the Turkish people referenced theNazi past during the interviews, the German people did not recall the Solingen and Mölln incidents.

During the interviews, apart from the NSU murders and the Hitler period, the German participants did not mention any incidents related to racism, hate crimes and discrimination, which was contrary to the Turkish participants. According to Dijk (1992), as racism, by definition, is too extreme for German people, it is generally avoided in public by limiting its usage only to the Nazi past (Dijk, 1992). Valerie, one of the German interviewees, confirmed this tendency:

I’m pretty sure it might be really easy to talk to other people from other countries about racism. But here in Germany, even if you are aware of your own racist ideas, it’s an awkward topic to talk about. I do not really remember using the term racism in our daily life. (Valerie, 22)

Besides shared collective past experiences, the NSU murders reminded the Turkish participants of their personal daily experiences with racism. The participants’ willingness to reference personal events that could be labelled as hate crimes was

likely to influence the interpretation of the NSU racist violence. Hence, as a result of the differences in the degree of the personal discriminatory assaults experienced, the NSU violence seemed to create greater emotional consequences for people with a Turkish background than for German natives.

Since I am a person who uses a headscarf, it is obvious that I am a Muslim. I have witnessed intolerant and aggressive behaviours because of this. Just the other day, while I was walking down the street, someone on his bike shouted at me to take my hijab off and to leave this country. (Emine, 48)

When some punks, who understood from my appearance that I am a foreigner, hovered in my shop for a while, saying things like “Dirty foreigner”, “Cockroach”, “get out of our country, return where you came from”. However, these things are very rare and have not spread to the whole society, of course. (Levent, 44)

I faced racism and prejudice a lot in my school days and in my daily life. I had many problems with teachers due to their prejudiced approach. Anyone who lives here and has a foreign origin, and especially Muslims, must have had these problems.(Saltuk, 22)

The attributions to prejudice are substantially related to the intergroup relations, that is, ‘the ingroup’s and the outgroup’s relative positions of power within the social structure’ determine the perceived discrimination (Schmitt &Branscombe, 2011, p.168).The Turkish participants stated that although all residents in Germany are equal before the law, they are disadvantaged relative to non-European immigrants. The feeling of discrimination due to the biased implementations and the feeling of insecurity are substantially correlated with a lack of belonging. 17

It is obvious that no matter how many generations have passed, Turkish people here in Germany are still not on the same level with German people when it comes to economic status, education and even in social life. (Erdoğan, 44)

Furthermore, the data suggests that the majority’s silence on the NSU case significantly disappointed participants from Turkish origin. Today, it is commonly

agreed that rather than the racist/non-racist oppositional categories, the majority’s silence regarding the ongoing racist practices is instrumental for sustaining the broader racism operating in both institutions and in society. As Trepagner (2001) pointed out, increasing awareness is more influential in challenging racial inequality than stigmatising people as racist. Thus, moderate German people’s goodwill is not perceived as sufficient to share the Turkish people’s grief and to confront the racist violence:

I don’t think that most of society adopted these (discriminatory) ideas, but I do think they remain silent. This is probably not even on their agenda. We are foreigners to them. Our problems to them are nothing like their families or neighbours’ problems, rather they are just problems of people from different countries far from them. If you ask, they are all sorry, but that’s it. (Levent, 44)

But other tolerant people also keep silent. And the worst thing is this silence. One of our politicians, I cannot recall his name right now, once said only when good ones become as brave as bad ones, the world will change.(Sinan, 33)

One of the main findings of the preliminary field research is that the Turkish participants strongly believe that institutional racism is operating in various state agents, including the police, intelligence service, education and even the labour market. Thus, the case has a critical role in the self-positioning of Turkish people within the hierarchical categories ofthe state system in a cohesive unity that provides continuity from past to future. Combining with their own past experiences of discrimination in different state institutions, the Turkish participants perceived the NSU case asa strong point for building a shared collective memory. For the Turkish participants, more than the attacks of the NSU, the overall role of the police, intelligence services and politicians has been the primary source of frustration. Regardless of their education level, age, occupation and gender, they all had comprehensive knowledge of the details, particularly regarding the failures of state institutions.

The main reason behind the failures within the police department and intelligence service is institutional racism. The fact that Turkish lawyer Seda Başay Yıldız from

Frankfurt received a threatening letter signed “NSU 2.0” and that the police were behind it proves my point. (Saltuk, 22)

I think in Germany, more than everyday discrimination, the racism in institutions is the problem for people coming from Turkish origin. (Sinan, 33)

I believe that the anti-Turkish attitudes within the police department and the intelligence service are also displayed in other institutions in a more discreet way. (Erdoğan, 44)

I have faced many prejudiced views regarding my being Turkish and Muslim. I have witnessed unequal treatments in government institutions many times. (Emine, 48)

However, German participants disagree with the claims regarding the institutional racism,i.e.the systematic failures during the NSU case. For them, the shortcomings during the investigation process resulted mainly from individuals’ mistakes or mismanagements. Furthermore, the contradictory implementations, such as the shredding of intelligence files related to the NSU members, were justified as an act of legitimate defence. Thus, the sociological perception of reality is consciously or unconsciously legitimised by social relativity (Berger & Luckman, 1966). The socio- political contexts influence the divergence of the individuals’ psychological interpretations and their legitimisation mechanisms.

I do not think police officers consciously covered up criminal offenses, rather they only couldn’t see the clues or just unconsciously stepped aside from some evidence. (Valerie, 22)

I think it is due to individual mistakes. Otherwise, it would be horrible. I believe that individuals couldn’t make connections among the murders. (Miriam, 52)

We should keep in mind that police officers can also fail, and the similar faults during the case may not indicate intentional discrimination towards the victims.(Jakob, 22)

I do not think the government intentionally covered up the murders. I do not have enough information about the failures you are talking about, but I think government officials have the responsibility to protect the interests of Germany as well. (Veit, 43)

According to the data, when it comes to discussing the details of the investigation and the judicial process, the participants tended to make general comments by refraining from clear arguments. I argue that the concept of wilful blindness explains the German participants’ avoidance from unwanted truth or information. Wilful blindness, which was originally used in criminal law and jurisprudence to describe a systematic process of self-deception to refrain from perceiving the criminal liability for a wrongful act (Lynch, 2016), contributes to individuals constructing a symbolic universe that blocks uncomfortable realities contradicting their subjective reality. By gaining insight into other perspectives and by inquiring about disturbing realities, individuals face the risk of leaving their comfort zone. Therefore, as Heffernan (2011) stated, ‘…we could know and should know, but don’t know because it makes us feel better not to know’ (p.226). Thus, the lack of knowledge on a specific case does not stem from the inaccessibility or invisibility of any particular information but rather the individuals’ wilful ignorance to maintain their conformity and compliance.

However, about the role of official authorities on the case and whether it was a deliberate action, why would it be? What is behind this action? I can't explain it. I don't know. I am not sure. I think it is due to individual mistakes. Otherwise, it would be horrible. (Miriam, 52)

I heard the claims about the involvement of the state officials in this organisation. I don’t know if this is true, but I heard about it from some students. I am not sure it might be true, but I hope it is not. I do not want to lose my confidence in state institutions. (Frieda, 22)

According toBerger and Luckman (1966), despite the social stock of knowledge appearingto be consistent, opaque zones of interpretation exist concerning the familiarity and remoteness to a particular case. While some parts of reality are enlightened, some others are entirely blurred. In this case, the groups’ relevance,

remoteness and immediate pragmatic interest affected their level of collective knowledge.

Furthermore, the data suggests that the sense of exclusion from receiving the silent treatment also decreased self-respect, the internal locus of control and the sense of belonging (Branscombe, Schmitt,& Harvey, 1999). As a result of the institutions’ perceived discrimination, the Turkish participants experienceda lack of belonging to Germany that may negatively affect their integration into society. Strikingly, despite the participants not having a direct relationship with the victims and pressure groups, the NSU experience of perceived discrimination has become detrimental to the sense of belonging.

I believe that the main purpose of these attacks is to scare the Turks in Germany. They are giving the message that Turks are unwanted here, that they should go back to their own country. What completely upsets me is that the government is connected with these instances. (Emine, 48) 20

God forbid! I do not want to live in a country in which my family and my children would be questioned as suspects for years, although a racist group had killed me. (Erdoğan, 44)

Honestly, I do not feel a part of this country, which does not show any intention to protect me. (Sinan, 33)

Although I am a third-generation immigrant here in Germany, I do not feel an equal component of society. (Saltuk, 22)

When I am in Turkey, I am a Turkish German (Almancı), and when I am here in Germany, I am a foreigner (Auslander). I have problems with self-identification. Probably we are Turks at home, Germans in the street but to what extent we are accepted this way is uncertain. I cannot feel belonging on both sides. (Levent, 44)

However, all German participants see themselves as colour blind based on the democratic values that recognise all people living in Germany as equal components of the society. However, although they avoid using unpleasant or offensive phrases regarding ethnic backgrounds, as all residents in Germany are equal before the law,

they engaged in some implicit reservations, euphemisms and other negative representations.

Of course, all people who live in Germany have equal rights. I do not think that people or laws treat foreigners differently. But we are different, that is also a fact. Muslims compared to us are less disciplined. I do not want to say lazy, but they do not care about work like we do. Always inshallah, inshallah. And they have more children than Germans, so they use social assistance service more than us. (Veit, 44)

Young men and women pick a spouse from Turkey and bring them here,and this way there are still individuals who can’t speak the German language in the country. This has been going on in Bergneustadt for generations. Some families have reached their third generation and still the children still can’t be “Germanized”. Turks marry between Turks. Then, Germans and Turks don’t become related to each other. (Miriam, 48)

They definitely need to adapt to the society. For example, in the university, we have lots of Turkish people, but they always hang together and speak Turkish with each other. So, we can’t even talk to them because they’re not talking to us in the same language. I think they still continue to live their own culture. But it is not the same for my Greek friends. Even though they come from a different origin as well, we do not have any communication problems with them. (Valerie, 22)

During the interviews, the Turkish people were framed as an ethnic group unwilling to integrate into German society, a reproductive community abusing the social security system, a religious group who are not as hardworking as Germans and a non-native group who are closed to out-marriagesand inter-group communication.

The other finding of the field research is that different media interpretations frame the NSU case. While Turkish participants express their strong distrust for the media, Germans do not particularly criticise the media’s role in the NSU case because they believed it was neutral or because they do not remember the media frame sufficiently to comment.

They became the official speakers of police and intelligence services. But I also criticise the Turkish media as well. OK, the German media was under the influence of the German government, but the Turkish media did not put the topic on their agenda until the NSU came to light. (Sinan, 33)

Media just played the role it was assigned. Like a parrot, they just repeated what state authorities said again and again. However, when the NSU appeared, they put it on the agenda. And again, after some sensational materials, everything stopped. Neither real actors nor the problems inside the state, except for some organisations, were brought to light. (Levent, 44)

I believe that the media didn’t cover this story during the trials, as they did the same thing before the discovery of the NSU; therefore, the German society wasn’t informed enough about it. (Saltuk, 22)

For the Turkish participants, the media failed to inform the public about the murders to prevent an awareness that might lead to a public discussion about racism and its broader devastating consequences on society. Furthermore, to maintain the power dynamics in politics, the media coverage was highly affected by the official arguments until the discovery of the NSU. After that period, it is believed that the media distorted the public view through content choice, manipulation and editorial policies.

I want to believe that the press is honest. But it certainly can be manipulated in some instances. But I trust their news. (Miriam, 52)

When we discussed the NSU in class, some of my friends believed that the media did not sufficientlycover the issues related to the case. I don’t think it was done on purpose. Before officials had identified the neo-Nazi group, the media might think the murders (which were not interrelated at that time) were not important to be selected for the coverage among many other news. (Frieda, 21)

As I said, I cannot remember the media coverage of the murders before the NSU. But after, the topic continuously was on the agenda, like almost each day there was news about it on TV. (Veit, 43) 22

However, for the German participants, the media did not disregard the murders nor intentionally fail to inform the public. They commonly thought that, just as the public officials, the media may not have noticed the links among the murders that had been committed in different parts of the country and in different periods.

9. LIMITATIONS

Although this research proposal has its merits, some limitations should be noted. First, I need to draw attention to the complexity of how my position as a Turkish researcher might affect field research. Based on the debate how the interaction of researchers with participants as outsiders or insiders influence the accuracy of the study, I tried to establish a balance between gaining the trusts of German participants and keeping a distance with Turkish participants. Since racism can be a sensitive topic to be discussed with a Turkish researcher, it was crucial for me to establish a trust-based relationship to receive sincere ideas and believes of German participants. Therefore, I contacted the German participants mainly through insiders such as German students here in UPF and the staff of NGO workers to ensure a neutral impression from the start.

Further, during the interviews, I explicitly expressed that my primary intention was seeking to understand how they perceive racism and racist violence, rather than being judgemental. On the other hand, Turkish interviewees tended to grant me an insider status that sometimes led them to ask for my explicit approval or support of their comments. Keeping in mind that researchers should be aware of their own social position (Duneier, 2004), I endeavored to be partial in both conducting interviews and analyzing my data.

Another challenge during the field research and data analysis emerged from the language difference because the researcher and the participants have different non- English native language. Whereas most of the interviews were conducted in Turkish, some other participants opted to speak in German or English. For the accounts of Turkish participants, the data was translated by the researcher to English, and for the interviews conducted in German language, simultaneous translation and textual translation services were used. As the essence of qualitative research is seeking to explore the meaning in subjective experiences through the use of language, I tried to work as a translation moderator by collaborating with a professional translator to avert the loss of meaning (Nes, Abma, Jonsson & Deeg, 2010). Thus, during the interviews and data analysis process, we tried to capture the richness of the languages as metaphors, daily expressions, idioms and proverbs by working together.

Since the pilot study was only preliminary field research, my sample size was not enough to provide a representative distribution of the German population that may yield reliable and precise conclusive interpretations. Moreover, the interviews were only conducted in Cologne and Dusseldorf that limits to understand the geographical differences in the perception of individuals.

In this context, this proposal can be improved by expanding the sample size, increasing the field research locations and mediating the translation process. Furthermore, the initial network in Germany has the potential to diversify the interviewees in the main research.

10. POTENTIAL CONCLUSIONS

First of all, although all interviewees converged upon the explicit denigration of the racist attacks and racist ideology, the differences in interpreting the racism, institutional racism, and media frame have emerged between Turkish and German participants. Past attributions to individual and collective racist violence incidents, the transmission of collective racist experiences to younger generations, daily personal experiences with racist violence have become major dichotomous points in explaining NSU violence. The data analysis indicated that NSU violence seemed to create more significant emotional consequences for people with a Turkish background than for German natives. Besides the ethnic background of the victims, the low power position of Turkish immigrants within the social structure profoundly affected their attributions to prejudice. On the contrary to German participants, attributions to NSU violence among Turkish ones operate on a continuum, is more likely to have less belief in justice, and more likely to reflect a limited sense of belonging to the society.

One of the main findings of the preliminary field research is that the while Turkish participants strongly believe that institutional racism is operating in Germany, German participants disagree with the claims regarding.the systematic failures during the NSU case. It is seen from the data that for German participants, the shortcomings during the investigation process resulted mainly from individuals’ mistakes or mismanagements. The avoidance of Germans from unwanted information and opaque zones of interpretation about the NSU case can be explained by the concept of wilful blindness. According to the data, wilful blindness and majority’s silence on NSU case significantly disappointed participants from Turkish origin. As a result of the institutions’ perceived discrimination and the majority's silence, the Turkish participants experienced a lack of belonging to Germany that may negatively affect their integration into society.

The other important finding of the research is, despite all German participants see themselves as color blind based on the democratic values that recognise all people living in Germany as equal components of the society, they engaged in some implicit reservations, euphemisms and other negative representations. Apart from the perceived institutional discrimination, past experiences in social prejudice have also a strong impact on the limited sense of belonging of Turkish people.

Since this exploration is a pre-research for the further Ph.D. thesis, these points will be more clarified and conceptualized in the main research. 25

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12. APPENDICES

12.1. NSU Offences

Crime Name Location Date

Bombing - Nuremberg 1999

Murder Enver Şimşek Nuremberg 2000

Murder Abdürrahim Nuremberg 2001 Özüdoğru

Bombing - Cologne 2001

Murder Süleyman Taşköprü Hamburg 2001

Murder Habil Kılıç Münich 2001

Murder Mehmet Turgut Rostock 2004

Bombing - Cologne 2004

Murder İsmail Yaşar Nuremberg 2005

Murder Theodoros Munich 2005 Boulgarides

Murder Mehmet Kubaşık Dortmund 2006