Antifa rioted in Leipzig on December 13th, causing an estimated thirty-four thousand dollars in vandalism damage. The rioters also hurled bottles and bags of paint at the police. Antifa called the event “ACAB Day.”
One of their targets was a Turkish mosque. Antifa smashed several windows and spray-painted the outside walls. The Mosque is part of a network called DITIB, which is subsidized by the Turkish government. Antifa says DITIB mosques are secretly affiliated with the Grey Wolves and regard them as a “fascist” enemy for supporting Turkish nationalism.
Antifa is increasingly inserting itself in the Turkish/Kurdish ethnic conflict. The Kurds, especially the Marxist group PKK and its affiliated armed wings in Turkey, Syria, and Iraq, are romanticized by Antifa. The Turks, however, are largely seen as the enemy by Antifa, especially the international pan-Turkic organization known as Grey Wolves.
At least a dozen European Antifa have been killed fighting alongside Marxist Kurdish separatists in Rojava and Afrin. Most of these died in Afrin during the invasion by the Turkish army.
Antifa in Europe has previously attacked other mosques and Turkish cultural centers that they say are affiliated with the Grey Wolves.
Leipzig is the number one hotbed of violent Antifa activity in Europe. The center of activity is the district of Connewitz, where Antifa squatter camps and punk rock concerts attract fellow “comrades” from all over Europe.
Antifa has caused millions of dollars of arson damage in Leipzig during the past several years.
