Victims of a bank heist in the western German city of Gelsenkirchen say the theft was targeted, as nearly all of the more than 3,000 looted safe deposit boxes belonged to Turkish and Arab customers.
Last weekend, thieves broke into the local branch of the publicly owned Sparkasse savings bank over several hours, drilling through reinforced concrete walls and forcing open 95% of the personal safes filled with valuables like cash, gold, and jewelry.
Several victims, including Unal Mete, Cihat Erdem Bostanci, Gungor Kalin, and Emre Yildirim, spoke to Anadolu about the incident, raising concerns over possible negligence and a lack of transparency by authorities and the bank.
Mete said he was shocked when he first learned of the burglary.
"How can a state bank in Germany be robbed so easily?" he asked. "Only customers' safe deposit boxes were looted. Nothing happened to the bank's main vault. The thieves simply walked in and out."
He claimed that the bank failed to contact customers after the incident and provided no clear information on whether or how their losses would be compensated.
Mete said he suspects the Gelsenkirchen branch was intentionally chosen since nearly all the safe deposit boxes belonged to people of foreign origin.
"This is clearly visible in the customer records," he said. "The thieves knew exactly who these boxes belonged to. That's why we believe this was a deliberate operation."
As details of the burglary emerged, victims created an online platform to coordinate their response.
"There are thousands of victims, and only one of them is German," Mete said. "Around 95% are Turkish, and the rest are Arab. People save for years, turn their money into gold, and store it in banks because they believe it's the safest place."
He said the bank insures each box for up to about €10,000—far below the value of items typically stored inside. Based on the insured amount, investigators say the thieves took €30 million ($35 million), but in reality, they may have taken far more.
"Almost everyone lost much more than the insured amount," Mete said. "Yet we paid annual fees for security the bank failed to provide."
He added that customers were asked to submit purchase receipts for valuables kept in the boxes, which he called unrealistic.
Calling for support from Turkish authorities, Mete said many expatriate citizens feel abandoned."We want to use all our legal rights. Our dreams have been shattered," he said. "We expect support, especially from our own country, during this legal process."
• Questions over security failures
Another victim, Cihat Erdem Bostanci, who works in construction, said the operation could not have gone unnoticed.
"To drill through a reinforced concrete wall like this takes at least two hours," he said. "It requires industrial drilling machines, hundreds of liters of water, and electricity, and it creates noise of around 100 decibels."
One hundred decibels is equivalent to the sound of a motorcycle or a nightclub.
"How did no one hear anything? How was there no vibration, no dust noticed?" he asked. "This is a major question mark for us."
Bostanci said he had previously asked the bank to raise his insurance coverage on his safe deposit box but was told it was not possible.
He also said that when he visited the scene on Monday, a bank official told him it was still being assessed whether he would be recognized as a victim.
Gungor Kalin criticized what he described as dismissive remarks by bank staff after the burglary.
"This wasn't the bank being robbed; it was people's personal safes," he said. "Hearing a bank official say, 'We're glad the bank wasn't robbed,' was insulting."
He said a police station is located just 200 meters (656 feet) from the bank and questioned how officers did not arrive at the scene sooner.
The heist only came to light on Monday after a fire alarm was triggered, according to German media outlet Deutsche Welle.
Witnesses said they saw several men carrying large bags Saturday night, according to local police. Authorities reviewing security footage later saw a black Audi with a stolen license plate and masked occupants leaving the bank's parking garage early Monday.
Kalin said the thieves entered through a staff-only parking area that requires an access card.
"How did they obtain that card?" he asked, raising suspicions of negligence or possible insider involvement.
Emre Yildirim said his family had banked with Sparkasse for three generations, stressing that the institution is publicly owned.
"No official statement has been made," he said. "Neither the mayor nor municipal officials showed up. This is a scandal."
Yildirim added that when one alarm sounded over the weekend, firefighters reportedly arrived and left without exiting their vehicle.
According to local police, a fire alarm was triggered in the bank building "as early as Saturday," but the police and fire brigade that attended the scene "could not find anything that suggested damage."
Yildirim questioned how such a large-scale breach could occur without a full response, saying the many unanswered questions are only heightening their suspicions.
According to the last local police statement from Dec. 30, the investigation continues, and no suspects have been identified or apprehended.
