History of Europe

2004:Mehmet Turgut is shot dead in Rostock

Mehmet Turgut was shot dead in Rostock on February 25, 2004. (archive image)

On February 25, 2004, Mehmet Turgut opened the kebab stand in the Toitenwinkel district of Rostock. Turgut, who was born in Turkey, actually lives in Hamburg, in Rostock he is visiting a friend. On this Ash Wednesday morning, he spontaneously takes over unlocking the stand. To this day it has not been fully clarified what happened shortly after 10 a.m. A police officer will speak in court in 2013 of a type of execution "with near-missed shots" in the throat, neck and head. Mehmet Turgut will only be 25 years old.

Neo-Nazis murdered undetected for years

There is enough talk in court about the alleged perpetrators - Uwe Mundlos, Uwe Böhnhardt and Beate Zschäpe. Together they formed the National Socialist Underground (NSU). The trio are charged with the murders of ten people, bomb attacks and various other crimes. The trial against the only surviving Beate Zschäpe in Munich has been going on since March last year.

Soko "Bosporus" and the alleged doner kebab murders

Mehmet Turgut was visiting Rostock. It is considered unlikely that the perpetrators wanted to murder him. A witness said at the trial:They just wanted to kill."

Many relatives are legally represented as joint plaintiffs. The price is high:you have to watch Zschäpe as she accepts even detailed descriptions of the bloody deeds indifferently. But this torment is only the latest chapter in the suffering of Mehmet Turgut's relatives. Only in 2011 did the police recognize a connection with the actions of the NSU. Previously, the "Soko Bosporus" had been looking for perpetrators of Turkish origin for years. It was assumed that there was a murder in the milieu.

Mehmet or his brother Yunus?

Only the murder weapon finally brings clarity and creates a connection. The Ceska 83 had been used in four other murders. Public prosecutors from Munich, Nuremberg and Rostock are finally merging the investigations. A personal detail is also embarrassing:the authorities assume that Yunus Turgut was the victim until 2011. Mehmet's brother had repeatedly asked for asylum in Germany without success. The brothers "swap" their names. According to "Spiegel Online" the dead man's name in the indictment is still Yunus. The verdict against Beate Zschäpe will probably be two years away. Then at least the legal processing is history. The pain of Turgut's family and friends is not.

Ten years after the murder, two staggered concrete benches have been unveiled at the crime scene in Rostock-Dierkow. They are intended to encourage "quiet dialogue", as the description of the monument says. The victims should be discussed here.