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Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
March 8 2013
Suspects in key murders of minority members `similar'
ISTANBUL / MALATYA
A judge of the case of three murders at a Malatya publishing house
says suspects in similar recent crimes, mainly against minorities,
have a similar profile, pointing at their non-liable age
A judge in the Zirve Yayınevi case has pointed out the similarities
between the suspected perpetrators behind the Zirve killings and the
Hrant Dink and Father Santoro murders.
`The one who killed Father Santoro in Trabzon was 17 years old, just
as the convict in the Hrant Dink murder. Also, the five assailants who
committed the Malatya Zirve Publishing House massacre were of the same
age group,' Judge Hayretin Kısa said during a hearing.
Father Santoro was shot dead in 2006 by a 16-year-old high school
student while kneeling in prayer in Trabzon. On Jan. 19, 2007, Hrant
Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist and editor-in-chief of weekly
Agos, was murdered in front of the Agos building in central Istanbul
by a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist. On April 18, 2007, three
missionaries ` German citizen Tillman Geske and two Turks, Necati
Aydın and UÄ?ur Yüksel ` were tied up and tortured before having their
throats slit at the Zirve Publishing House, a Christian publisher in
the eastern province of Malatya.
The case continued yesterday with a hearing in Malatya, during which
Varol Bülent Aral, one of the suspects under arrest and the alleged
instigator, claimed that Emre Günaydın carried out the publishing
house murders for money.
HurÅ?it Tolon, the former general who is also charged with being behind
the killings, was absent at yesterday's hearing as he is imprisoned in
Istanbul's Silivri jail in connection to the Ergenekon trial, an
investigation into a plot to topple the government.
`The judge's statements demonstrate to what extent he takes the
indictment seriously. If he did not take this indictment so seriously,
he would have neither made such comments nor accepted the indictment,'
Erdal DoÄ?an, one of the lawyers of the case, told the Daily News on
the phone yesterday
DoÄ?an said the members of the court board should not be changed for
the benefit of the case. `Last September, two prosecutors in the case
were assigned to other duties. However, they were the critical names
who prepared the indictment and witnessed all the developments of the
case process. It is very hard for a newly appointed one to receive a
comprehensive file with hundreds of pages,' DoÄ?an said.
During her recent visit to Turkey, German Chancellor Angela Merkel had
reportedly asked the head of the Protestant Churches Union, Umut
Å?ahin, whether they were hopeful about the progress of the Zirve
Publishing House case.
Noting Merkel's question, DoÄ?an said, `Germany has a crucial role to
enlighten this massacre; but it won't be solved by following it from a
distance. The documents in the first indictment clearly show
Ergenekon's extensions in Germany and [the gang's] cash flow. Legal
institutions in Germany have to share all these data and documents for
the progress of the case.'
Vercihan ZiflioÄ?lu from Istanbul contributed to this report.
March/08/2013
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/suspects-in-key-murders-of-minority-members-similar.aspx?pageID=238&nID=42558&NewsCatID=341
From: Baghdasarian
March 8 2013
Suspects in key murders of minority members `similar'
ISTANBUL / MALATYA
A judge of the case of three murders at a Malatya publishing house
says suspects in similar recent crimes, mainly against minorities,
have a similar profile, pointing at their non-liable age
A judge in the Zirve Yayınevi case has pointed out the similarities
between the suspected perpetrators behind the Zirve killings and the
Hrant Dink and Father Santoro murders.
`The one who killed Father Santoro in Trabzon was 17 years old, just
as the convict in the Hrant Dink murder. Also, the five assailants who
committed the Malatya Zirve Publishing House massacre were of the same
age group,' Judge Hayretin Kısa said during a hearing.
Father Santoro was shot dead in 2006 by a 16-year-old high school
student while kneeling in prayer in Trabzon. On Jan. 19, 2007, Hrant
Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist and editor-in-chief of weekly
Agos, was murdered in front of the Agos building in central Istanbul
by a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist. On April 18, 2007, three
missionaries ` German citizen Tillman Geske and two Turks, Necati
Aydın and UÄ?ur Yüksel ` were tied up and tortured before having their
throats slit at the Zirve Publishing House, a Christian publisher in
the eastern province of Malatya.
The case continued yesterday with a hearing in Malatya, during which
Varol Bülent Aral, one of the suspects under arrest and the alleged
instigator, claimed that Emre Günaydın carried out the publishing
house murders for money.
HurÅ?it Tolon, the former general who is also charged with being behind
the killings, was absent at yesterday's hearing as he is imprisoned in
Istanbul's Silivri jail in connection to the Ergenekon trial, an
investigation into a plot to topple the government.
`The judge's statements demonstrate to what extent he takes the
indictment seriously. If he did not take this indictment so seriously,
he would have neither made such comments nor accepted the indictment,'
Erdal DoÄ?an, one of the lawyers of the case, told the Daily News on
the phone yesterday
DoÄ?an said the members of the court board should not be changed for
the benefit of the case. `Last September, two prosecutors in the case
were assigned to other duties. However, they were the critical names
who prepared the indictment and witnessed all the developments of the
case process. It is very hard for a newly appointed one to receive a
comprehensive file with hundreds of pages,' DoÄ?an said.
During her recent visit to Turkey, German Chancellor Angela Merkel had
reportedly asked the head of the Protestant Churches Union, Umut
Å?ahin, whether they were hopeful about the progress of the Zirve
Publishing House case.
Noting Merkel's question, DoÄ?an said, `Germany has a crucial role to
enlighten this massacre; but it won't be solved by following it from a
distance. The documents in the first indictment clearly show
Ergenekon's extensions in Germany and [the gang's] cash flow. Legal
institutions in Germany have to share all these data and documents for
the progress of the case.'
Vercihan ZiflioÄ?lu from Istanbul contributed to this report.
March/08/2013
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/suspects-in-key-murders-of-minority-members-similar.aspx?pageID=238&nID=42558&NewsCatID=341
From: Baghdasarian