Turkey ‘s Christians still concerned over safety as Bible worker trial continues

ICC Note

“Christians are considered to be betraying Turkey ’s national identity and are even more vulnerable as they constitute such a small minority. The trial of the men accused of murdering the three Christians last April is a landmark case, and a chance to show that justice will prevail irrespective of religious background.”

Thursday, January 17, 2008 Turkey (Christian Today)-One of the men standing trial in Turkey for the murders of two Turkish and one German Christian told the court on Monday how the victims were tortured and killed. The wives of the victims were present in the court.

According to the Turkish news network NTV, one of the defendants, Hamit Ceken, described how he placed plastic bags under Necati Aydin’s head to make his death ‘comfortable’ before other defendants cut his throat.

Turkish citizen, Necati Aydin, and German citizen, Tilman Geske, were found murdered in a Christian publishing house where they worked in April 2007. The second Turkish citizen, Ugur Yuksel, later died in hospital. The five men standing trial, all aged between 19 and 20, confessed to the murders.

There has been a significant rise in attacks on Christians in Turkey over the last two years. On December 29, police arrested 22-year-old Murat Tabuk for plotting to kill Pastor Ramazan Arkan in Antalya , southern Turkey .

Following his arrest, Murat alleged that he decided to kill Pastor Arkan after watching an episode of the nationalist TV show ‘Valley of the Wolves’ – a programme which portrays missionary activities as linked to aims of Western powers to divide Turkey. Pastor Arkan told CSW that he was under police protection and that he will continue his work at his church.

“Christians are considered to be betraying Turkey ’s national identity and are even more vulnerable as they constitute such a small minority. The trial of the men accused of murdering the three Christians last April is a landmark case, and a chance to show that justice will prevail irrespective of religious background.