THREE SLAYINGS JAR TURKISH CHRISTIANS
By Laura King
Seattle Times, WA
Los Angeles Times
Nurhan Karaduman / Ihlas News Agency/AP
April 19 2007
Turkish police officers detain a suspect Wednesday after a fatal
attack at a Christian publishing house in Malatya, Turkey.
ISTANBUL, Turkey – In a gruesome attack that sent shockwaves through
Turkey’s tiny Christian community, assailants Wednesday slit the
throats of three men at a publishing house that distributes Bibles
and other Christian literature.
Five youths were detained at the scene in the conservative eastern
city of Malatya, Turkish authorities said. One news report said the
alleged attackers carried notes indicating their motive was right-wing
nationalism.
Turkey’s sometimes hostile stance toward its religious and ethnic
minorities has been a persistent source of concern to Western
governments as the country presses ahead with its campaign for entry
into the European Union.
While the government officially preaches tolerance, it historically
has failed to rein in virulent ultranationalist groups. Authorities
were accused of ignoring repeated death threats against Hrant Dink,
an ethnic Armenian newspaper editor who was gunned down outside his
offices in Istanbul in January. Prosecutors later said a teenager
confessed to the shooting.
At the Zirve publishing house in Malatya’s city center, police
discovered the three victims bound hand and foot, tied to chairs
with their throats cut. Two already were dead; the third died at
the hospital.
All were believed to have been workers at the publishing house. One
of the dead men had German citizenship, the German Embassy confirmed.
Christians make up less than 1 percent of the population of 70 million
in this officially secular but overwhelmingly Muslim country.
However, they are regarded with deep suspicion, particularly if they
are seen to be involved in proselytizing.
Malatya has long been considered a stronghold of Turkish nationalism,
laced with anti-Christian sentiment. Mehmet Ali Agca, who tried to
assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981, was from the city.
One of the five youths in custody suffered serious head injuries when
he jumped from a third-story window as police arrived. They were
summoned by visitors who were worried when they received no answer
to their knocks.
Police said the other four young men, who were found standing over
the blood-soaked victims, were being questioned, but authorities
declined to comment.
One Turkish television station, Channel D, said in a report from
Malatya that each youth had carried an identical note declaring:
"We did this for our country. … They are attacking our religion."
The Zirve publishing house, whose name means "Summit," previously had
been the target of ultranationalist protests and threats. Turkish
television showed footage of a demonstration in Malatya in 2005,
in which marchers chanted slogans denouncing Christian evangelism.
"There has been a mood against Christian missionaries for a long time,
despite the tradition of tolerance in the old Ottoman Empire," said
Mustafa Akyol, a Turkish columnist and analyst. "Turkey is becoming
an insecure place for minorities in general."