12 to be charged in Turkey Bible murders

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

12 to be charged in Turkey Bible murders

Sun Apr 22, 10:54 PM ET

ANKARA, Turkey - A court jailed five suspects Sunday on murder
charges linked to the killings of three Christians who were tied
up and had their throats slit at a publishing house which had
drawn protests by nationalists for distributing Bibles.

Six others were released pending trial, the court said. It was
unclear what charges the six faced and a trial date has not yet
been set. A 12th suspect, who tried to escape from police by
jumping from a fourth-floor balcony at the scene of the killings,
remains hospitalized in stable condition and was expected to be
charged later.

The three victims — a German man and two Turks who converted
to Christianity — were killed Wednesday at a Christian publishing
house in Malatya.

The attack added to concerns in Europe about whether the
predominantly Muslim country — which is bidding for European
Union membership — can protect its religious minorities.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070423/ap_on_re_mi_ea/turkey_bible_attack

---

Source: BBC

Last Updated: Monday, 23 April 2007, 04:24 GMT 05:24 UK

Germany urges Turkey over murders

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Turkey to tackle
"unacceptable intolerance" in the country, following the
killings of three Christians.

In a newspaper interview, Mrs Merkel called on the Turkish
authorities to combat the "climate in which such terrible
murders are possible".

The Christians, one of whom was German, were found with
their throats slit in south-eastern Turkey on 18 April.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6582441.stm

[shenmue]

1. What is wrong with people?

Why do something awful like that? :cry:

:shrug:

[Hieronymus]

2. We're the killers part of an organized group?

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[juno jones]

5. It would be instructive to know the 'brand' of christianity

espoused by the victims. Orthodoxy and Catholicism are often tolerated in the east, but none of them are very patient with our homegrown export of the 'Pat Robertson, prosteletyse, missionary and witness to everyone, destroy native culture, then send the convert's money to the american preacher' variety. Not that this excuses such violence, but it's something to consider.

[Eugene]

6. According to reports, the Zirve publishing house prints bibles for Turkey's Protestants in general.

The German victim, Tilmann Geske, was an Evangelical missionary,
but extremists have attacked Catholics and Orthodox Christians too.

[knitter4democracy]

7. Just ask an Orthodox Christian how "tolerant" Turkey is of our faith.

Turkey passed a law saying that our patriarch of Istanbul (we still call it Constantinople, though) has to have been born in Turkey. Problem is, they've been forcing out all the Christians through stuff like this, peer pressure, and just ask the Armenians and Greeks what was done to them. Our numbers of priests goes down every year, probably through the bombings at the Patriarchal compound.

[brentspeak]

8. What's "to consider"??