Criminal gangs of Turkish origin in Berlin are committing contract killings, trafficking drugs and weapons, and brazenly boasting about their deeds online. Territorial conflicts involve shootings and grenade attacks in various city districts, including Kreuzberg. The Landeskriminalamt has been warning about the escalation of violence and the new, overt methods of these groups for a year.
Contract Killings and Trafficking
New Turkish gangs in Berlin specialize in contract killings, drug trafficking, and weapons smuggling, engaging in brutal fights over territories of influence.
Brazenness Online
The criminals do not hide their activities but openly boast about them on social media, posing a new challenge for law enforcement agencies.
Escalation of Violence in the City
Attacks involving firearms and hand grenades occur in various parts of Berlin, including the Kreuzberg district, where venues and homes are targeted.
Landeskriminalamt Response
The state criminal police office of Brandenburg and Berlin has been monitoring the situation for a year, but the gangs' brazenness requires new methods to combat organized crime.
Criminal gangs of Turkish origin in Berlin are waging an open war over territories, resorting to extreme forms of violence, including contract killings. Attacks occur in various districts of the German capital, such as Kreuzberg, where bullets hit bar windows, restaurant doors, and private homes. In one incident, a hand grenade was detonated in an empty nightclub. These groups specialize in drug trafficking and weapons smuggling, and their activities are primarily financed from these illegal sources. Organized crime linked to the Turkish diaspora in Germany has its roots in the 1960s and 1970s, with the influx of guest workers. Over the decades, it has evolved from groups involved in smuggling and extortion for the local community to specialized, international syndicates dealing in drug and weapons trafficking. A new aspect of these gangs' activities is their openness on the internet. Members do not hide their identities but boast about their deeds and online presence, which poses a challenge for investigators accustomed to covert mafia structures. „Sie begehen Auftragsmorde, schmuggeln Waffen und Drogen und zeigen sich ungeniert im Internet.” (They commit contract killings, smuggle weapons and drugs, and show themselves unabashedly on the internet.) — This brazenness demonstrates their confidence and disregard for law enforcement. The Landeskriminalamt (LKA), the state criminal police office responsible for combating serious crime, has been warning about the situation since last year. Fights over areas of influence (so-called Revierkämpfe) indicate a dynamic process of consolidation and division of the illegal goods market in the city. Escalation of Turkish Gang Activity in Berlin: 2025 — LKA Alarm; February 2026 — Series of Attacks in Kreuzberg; February 21, 2026 — Media Reports One of the precise targets was the home of a wealthy representative of the Turkish-Kurdish scene in Berlin, suggesting that the conflicts may have ethnic or business underpinnings. The situation requires a coordinated response from German authorities, and possibly also international cooperation with Turkish counterparts, to cut off sources of financing, weapons supply, and recruitment of new members.
Perspektywy mediów: Liberal media may emphasize systemic causes of the problem, such as the social exclusion of parts of the immigrant community that fuels crime, and call for integration policies. Conservative media may focus on the failure of migration and internal security policy, calling for decisive deportations and stricter laws.