TURKEY INVESTIGATES POSSIBLE POLICE COLLUSION IN CHRISTIAN MURDERS
by Jennifer Gold
ChristianToday, UK
Dec 11 2007
An investigation has been launched in Turkey, looking into possible
collusion between Turkish police and at least one of the suspects in
the brutal murder of three Christians in a publishing house earlier
this year.
An Interior Ministry official said that a pair of senior police
inspectors have been given the task of finding out if any officers
assisted the suspects, reports FoxNews.
In April, three Christians were tied up, repeatedly stabbed and had
their throats cut in a Protestant publishing house. The trial of
five men accused of the murders began last month but was adjourned
until 14 January as defence lawyers requested more time to prepare
their arguments.
The investigation was launched after some newspapers alleged police
collusion with the killers.
Two suspects, Abuzer Yildirim and Salih Guler were quoted by Radikal
newspaper as saying that another suspect, Emre Gunaydin, had told them
that he had met with police officials who gave him the locations of
Christian churches in the city.
According to Radikal, Yildirim said, "I asked him [Gunaydin] who
are the police chiefs that you are speaking to, he said: ‘Don’t ask,
take it easy."’
Allegations of police collusion also arose following the murder
in January of Hrant Dink, an ethnic Armenian who roused the ire of
Turkish nationalists when he describe the killings of Armenians in
the early 20th century as genocide -Turkey has always denied genocide.
According to FoxNews, some believe the authorities failed to act on
reports of a plot to kill Dink, although no evidence has linked any
government or police officials to Dink’s murder.
There are fears that a "deep state" may exist in which a network
of informers and ex-officials are linked to organised crime that
sometimes targets reformers and other "enemies" of Turkish nationalism.
In addition, Christian leaders in the country have expressed concern
that nationalists are promoting hostility against non-Turks and
non-Muslims by exploiting the uncertainty of Turkey’s place in the
world, reports FoxNews.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
