For many decades Turks in Germany were considered guests (and many also saw themselves as guests who would return to Turkey one day). The term “guest worker”, however, has meanwhile been eliminated from the debate. We – and they. Erdoğan’s speech catapulted us back to a discourse of the 1980s and the early 1990s – even though he sensibly refrained from hastily conjuring up the images of Solingen and Mölln.

The hortatory and indeed patronizing words defy the collaborative and committed efforts of thousands of Germans and Turks to improve relations and understand each other better. Turks are part of German society. Many Turks have made remarkable careers in Germany and consider Germany their home. Admittedly, it was a long and complicated process for Germany to realize that it is in fact an immigration society but over the past ten years Germany has made major steps towards integration. And yet there are people brainless enough to believe that racism produced a solution to their personal problems. Followers of this ideology can unfortunately be found in any society. It would be wrong to deny that. Equally wrong would it be, however, to give those weak souls the power to stir distrust and hate between people of different ethnicities, no matter where they reside. We would only follow their footsteps.

The discussion became a ping-pong game at some point. Who is the better homeland? “If it is really so important to know one’s mother tongue before learning a second language, why does he not allow Kurdish schools?” says Deniz, a student at Berlin’s Humboldt University.

Also the Alevi community in Germany – of which the nine killed Turks were a part – defended itself against Erdoğan’s claims of belonging. Ali Ertan Toprak, general secretary of the German Alevi Community AABF (Almanya Alevi Birlikleri Federasyonu), called Erdoğan’s speech “barefaced” and “outrageous”: “He comes here playing the role of the great democrat, but he didn't even do his homework.” Alevites are Muslims but so far have not been recognized as a Muslim minority by the Turkish state because of their liberal interpretation of Islam. Germany is home to 700.000 Alevites.

Ironically, and significantly, a comparable international uproar would have occurred had a similar tragedy happened in Turkey, had nine Alevi Turks died in a fire in an eastern province of Turkey. Hasty accusations and reminiscences to Maraş (1978) and Sivaş (1993) would have been made – both incidents led to the death of several Turkish Alevites. This only shows how our perception of a single incident is influenced by lingering fears and pre-assumptions – and a sometimes mindless hunger for explanations and scapegoats.

While we were still discussing and hoping that a technical defect had caused the fire, news reached us that more houses had been set on fire – in Gelsenkirchen, Pirmasens, Albingen, Marburg und Vienna (Austria). Turkish newspapers splashed every incident on their front pages – even if Turks were not the target of the attack. It is not unlikely, however, that those later incidents (those who were actually arson attacks) were triggered by the fiery discussion about Ludwigshafen, by accusations and anger irresponsibly dropped.

Germans have learned two lessons from the shocking incident and its aftermath: German politicians have, despite all their recent efforts, so far failed to give a clear message to Turks living in Germany that they are welcome and a part of society. Secondly, the state is not doing enough against frequently erupting neo nazi tendencies.

The baby in Ludwigshafen was caught and saved by a German policeman. Some days later a Turk dragged a German pensioner out of his burning house and saved his life. There is hope that we all find back to reason and save ourselves from falling into angry generalizations and accusations.