A German politician from the Christian Democratic CDU is suspected of having fabricated a racist attack against himself ahead of a mayoral election. The incident attracted significant attention and was condemned by political opponents. The politician is now being investigated for suspected false reporting of a crime and risks being expelled from his party.

On September 23, Baris Karabacak, 39, reported to the police that his car had been vandalized overnight in the northern German town of Uetersen, in the state of Schleswig-Holstein.

According to the politician, unknown perpetrators had smashed the car windows and attached one of his campaign flyers to the vehicle. The flyer allegedly contained a handwritten xenophobic message reading “No Turks – all must go,” as reported by the German newspaper Bild.

Karabacak, who was born in the German city of Pinneberg and has family roots in Turkey, was at the time running for mayor for the CDU. The alleged attack gained major attention in German media and provoked strong reactions.

Even his political opponent, the incumbent mayor Dirk Woschei from the Social Democratic SPD, condemned the incident and described it as an attack on the city’s democratic culture.

Suspicions That the Crime Never Happened

However, the day after the police report was filed, information emerged that led investigators to question Karabacak’s account. The prosecutor’s office in Itzehoe therefore launched a preliminary investigation against the CDU politician, who now stands suspected of reporting a crime that never took place.

As part of the investigation, a home search was conducted. Investigators have also confiscated, among other things, an electronic device that is now being examined, but Karabacak firmly denies having fabricated the attack.

The suspicions have simultaneously sparked strong reactions within the CDU. The party’s general secretary in Schleswig-Holstein, Lukas Kilian, demands that Karabacak leave the party if the allegations prove true.

– Anyone who orchestrates a racist crime abuses the solidarity of many people and mocks the victims of real racism. There is no place for such actions in the CDU, Kilian told Bild.

The allegations come at a time when Germany in recent years has registered a large number of politically motivated crimes. According to the federal police BKA, 85,837 such crimes were recorded in 2025, the highest figure since statistics began in 2001. Of these, 22,159 were classified as hate crimes, of which 19,484 had xenophobic motives.

Lost the Mayoral Election

The significant attention surrounding the alleged attack did not lead to election success for Karabacak. In the mayoral election in Uetersen, a city with around 19,000 inhabitants, the CDU candidate received only 769 votes, equivalent to 10.67 percent.

The incumbent Social Democratic mayor Dirk Woschei won the election with 51.3 percent of the votes.