New suspect in Turkey Bible house murders

A new suspect has been named in the killings of three Christians in Malatya, Turkey in 2007. Seven men are already on trial for the murders of German missionary Tilmann Geske and Turkish converts Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel.

In April 2007 five men went to the publishing house where the Christians were based, claiming they wanted to talk about Christianity. They then tied up the three men, questioned them about missionary work, tortured them and cut their throats. The publishing house had received threats prior to that time and had sought police protection.

An eighth man, Varol Bulent Aral, has now been charged with “being the leader of a terrorist organisation” and for “the murder of more than one person as part of the organisation’s activities”.

The claim that Aral was the mastermind behind the murders and ordered the killings came from those already in prison for the crimes.

During the trial for the murders, which began in November 2007, the prosecutor claimed that the defendants set up an "armed terrorist organisation to forcefully impose their ideological convictions on others”. The prosecutor said five of the suspects should receive life in prison, whilst another two should receive one year sentences for aiding the killers.

Immediately after the killings, numerous Turkish intellectuals claimed that ultranationalist press and politicians were responsible for the murders because of their emphasis of a “Christian danger” as many Turks convert to Christianity. However the Minster for Home Affairs in Turkey said that between 1999 and 2001 only 344 Muslims had been baptised, out of a population of 70 million.