FAMILIES OF SLAIN PRIEST, KILLER MEET AT MASS
Nicolas Cheviron

Middle East Times, Egypt
Feb 5 2007

PARENTS: Necmiye Akdin (L) and Hikmet Akdin (C), parents of the
murderer of Roman Catholic priest Andrea Santoro, talk to Cardinal
Camillo Ruini (2nd R) and Archbishop Luigi Padovese at Santa Maria
Church in Turkey’s Black Sea city of Trabzon February 5.

(REUTERS)

TRABZON, Turkey — The parents of a Turkish teenager jailed for
killing an Italian Roman Catholic priest last year met relatives
of the victim Monday at a memorial service here to mark the first
anniversary of his murder.

The couple visited the Santa Maria Catholic Church, where Father Andrea
Santoro, 61, was shot dead as he knelt in prayer February 5, 2006.

There they expressed their sympathy to Santoro’s mother and two
sisters and to Cardinal Camillo Ruini, head of the Italian Episcopal
conference, who were in Trabzon, a port city on the eastern Black
Sea coast, for the service.

"It was a very emotional moment. The boy’s mother kissed the cardinal’s
hand and she and her husband expressed their condolences and deep
sadness," Trabzon Mayor Volkan Canalioglu, who attended the meeting,
told reporters.

"Santoro’s family told them they would be praying both for Santoro
and the boy," he added.

The priest was shot dead at a time of widespread anger across the
Muslim world over the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed
in European newspapers.

But the motives of the assailant, a 16-year-old identified only as
O.A., have never been confirmed. His trial, in which he was sentenced
to 18 years and 10 months in October, was held behind closed doors
because of his young age.

Witnesses had said that the gunman shouted "Allahu Akhbar" ("God Is
Great") as he fired two shots at the priest before fleeing.

The expression is used in prayer by Muslims, but also as a rallying
cry by Islamic militants.

Several newspapers suggested that the boy’s action was instigated by
Islamist extremists, but his father said that his son had no links
with religious groups and was receiving psychological support.

Cardinal Ruini, who led the memorial service, called for reconciliation
and understanding between Islam and Christianity.

"We are here today in the spirit of Father Andrea Santoro, respecting
Islam and considering Turkey and the Turks friends.

"Another reason why we are here is to show that dialogue between
religions is possible and desirable," he said.

The Santa Maria Catholic Church was built in the nineteenth century
on the orders of an Ottoman sultan to serve foreign visitors. It now
has a community of about 20 worshipers.

Trabzon, a nationalist stronghold, again came under the spotlight
after the January 19 killing of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink in Istanbul.

A 17-year old boy from Trabzon has confessed to the murder and was
arrested along with seven alleged associates, all young people also
from that town.

Some media reports have suggested that the murders of Dink and Santoro
might be linked.

Trabzon’s governor and police chief were removed from office last week
following accusations that they had failed seriously to investigate
groups of youths under the sway of ultra-nationalist and Islamist
ideas in the wake of Santoro’s murder.

The killing was the most serious among several attacks on Christian
clergymen in Turkey, virtually unheard of until last year.

Five days after Santoro was gunned down, another Roman Catholic priest
was harassed and threatened in the western city of Izmir and in July,
a third was stabbed by a man described as "mentally disturbed" in
Samsun in the north.

During a visit to Turkey in November, Pope Benedict XVI remembered
Santoro and called on Ankara to ensure the religious freedom of its
tiny Christian communities.