Evrim Baba, who has repeatedly taken a stand against far-right activity in her political career, is a member of the Berlin city parliament for the socialist Left party.

The politician said she believed the attack came from the neo-Nazi scene after recently receiving a number of threats. Several days ago a smelly liquid was also thrown inside the 39-year-old’s car, rendering it unusable.

City politicians from both Baba’s party and the centre-left Social Democrats condemned the attack.

Baba fled with her family from the Turkey’s then military regime as an eight-year-old child and worked as an interpreter before becoming a member of the Berlin legislature in 1999.

She is the Left party’s speaker on women’s issues in the capital.

The fire attack on Baba’s car follows a similar crime in which two cars were burned outside conservative Berlin politician Robbin Juhnke’s home in the summer of 2009. In that case left-wing anarchists claimed responsibility.