Berlin Under Siege: Turkish Gangs Turn Capital into Battlefield
Berlin’s streets are increasingly becoming the scene of a dangerous war between Turkish gangs. Crime is on the rise, and shootings are a daily occurrence. The police appear powerless.
Bullets strike the windows of bars and the doors of restaurants in Berlin. A hand grenade explodes in an empty nightclub in Kreuzberg. People are injured by gunfire. The State Criminal Police Office (LKA) is alarmed: the German capital has become the scene of a gang war, brought to Germany by organized crime from Turkey.
Fear pervades among Turkish-background shop owners. Those who don’t pay “protection money” are punished, it is said. Hardly any victim dares to go to the police.
The Escalation: A New Threat Landscape
The actors from Turkey are also pushing into the lucrative drug trade. Almost every week, the police report violent incidents in the parallel world of turf battles. Berlin’s Justice Senator Felor Badenberg (CDU) described it as a new threat situation. “We are now seeing rival gangs visibly using violence on Berlin’s streets, be it through hand grenade attacks on premises, or through shootings at people, vehicles, and buildings,” she told broadcaster RBB.
In 2025, the police recorded 543 incidents involving gunfire, in addition to 629 cases of threats with a firearm. In 2024, these numbers were significantly lower, with 363 shootings and 303 threats.
Foreign Fighters: Gangs Fly in Perpetrators from Turkey
Turkish-Kurdish gangs, in particular, are responsible for these threats and clashes. Perpetrators are even specifically flown in for these operations, as Berlin’s Police President Barbara Slowik Meisel recently explained. “They enter briefly on a tourist visa and then commit crimes here for which they have received orders.” They quickly disappear after their acts.
What is currently taking root in Germany, and especially Berlin, has long been a major problem in Turkey: “new generation” street gangs, strengthened by extortion, drug, and arms smuggling, according to journalist and author Osman Cakli. Among them are the Daltons – a name carried by a historical gang as well as gangster brothers in the “Lucky Luke” comics. They are known for their brutal methods and the recruitment of young members via internet media.
Recruitment and Motivation: The Allure of Crime
These gangs, like similar groups in Central and South America, attract young men. Court records from a trial against the Daltons show that primarily men aged 15 to 20 are recruited. However, an increasing number of young women are also becoming part of the gangs. According to Cakli, there are 1,000 armed members in Istanbul alone, a city of 15 million. In an ongoing trial against the notorious Casper gang, around 70 minors have been charged.
The gangs create fascination and longing among young people from poor neighborhoods, says Cakli. On TikTok, they present a life that inspires dreams: money, expensive cars, weapons. Young people who join the gangs often come from Kurdish or Alevi families who have been marginalized in Turkish society for decades due to discrimination.
The high inflation of recent years has further exacerbated the situation. “Drug dealers earn 250,000 to 300,000 Lira a month,” says Cakli. That’s almost 5,000 to nearly 6,000 euros. “A textile worker works 13 to 14 hours a day in the factory, is often uninsured, and doesn’t get minimum wage. If the children of these families aren’t caught, they earn in a few months what might take two or three years.”
Prison Sentences as a Badge of Honor and Easy Access to Weapons
Moreover, minors often receive only short prison sentences. In these circles, this is more of an honor than a disadvantage. Access to the gangs is incredibly easy; a message is enough: “Someone who leaves a comment under a video on TikTok can be working as a contract killer two months later.”
Weapons are readily available. Via TikTok, one can have a weapon delivered by a courier for the equivalent of almost 60 euros, Cakli reports. A Kalashnikov assault rifle is available for as little as 300 euros.
A central source of income for the gangs is drug trafficking. Turkey’s importance in the international drug trade has grown rapidly in recent years. This has earned the country the nickname “Europe’s Mexico” among some experts. International cartels use Turkish ports to smuggle cocaine from South America to Europe, circumventing stricter controls in ports like Rotterdam or Antwerp. The gang neighborhoods of Istanbul are also the main transshipment points for smuggled drugs, according to Cakli. Authorities are largely powerless against the gangs.
Berlin’s Drug Market Blooms: A Magnet for Gangs
Observers suggest that the spread of the Daltons to Berlin is partly due to increasing pressure in Turkey. On the other hand, it is about opening up new markets. Berlin is a metropolis with a flourishing drug market, and at the same time, the police and judiciary are understaffed, says Benjamin Jendro, spokesman for the Berlin Police Union (GdP).
“For a few months now, we have seen the Ezgins, an offshoot of the so-called Daltons, becoming more active and discovering the capital as a field of activity and sales market,” says Jendro. The gangs are more brutal than before. “Everyone has firearms, and not just small calibers anymore. They act reactively unscrupulously, not threatening for long, but acting immediately.”
Police Response: “Ferrum” Special Unit and Raids
Indeed, the gang also shows public presence. At a prominent funeral in Berlin in January, attended by representatives of the criminal milieu, a large wreath and ribbon bore the inscription “Daltonlar.”
In response to the constant violence, the Berlin State Criminal Police Office (LKA) established a large special unit for investigations in November. The name of the so-called BAO (Special Task Force) refers to firearms: “Ferrum” (Latin for iron).
Since then, police officers have been raiding and searching shisha bars and snack bars almost every night in Kreuzberg, Schöneberg, Wedding, Charlottenburg, and Neukölln. Traffic controls are conducted at known hotspots of the scene. The police checked the identities of around 5,000 people, 3,000 cars, and over 800 premises.
The results: 18 confiscated firearms and 192 cartridges, 10 blank-firing pistols, 50 other weapons such as knives, baseball bats, and tasers. The police initiated 260 investigative proceedings, identified 50 suspects, and issued 12 arrest warrants. The operations have shown an effect, the police emphasized, stating that the constant presence sends a signal to organized crime, which now prefers to leave its pistols at home. The pressure must now be maintained.
Source: https://www.t-online.de/nachrichten/panorama/kriminalitaet/id_101138706/berlin-tuerkische-gangs-verwandeln-deutsche-hauptstadt-in-ihr-schlachtfeld.html
