Over the last few months, Christians have reported increasing harassment
by Islamic fundamentalists and Turkish nationalists. In some cases,
Christians were accused of proselytizing in the Muslim state, which has
sought membership in the European Union.
"Nothing can excuse such an attack that comes at a time of great need
for peace, brotherhood and tolerance," Turkish President Ahmet Sezer said.
On April 18, three people, including a German national, were killed at a
publishing house in the Turkish city of Maltya, Middle East Newsline reported. The three, bound and their
throats slit, were found in a facility that produced bibles. About 20 people
were arrested, five of them regarded as key suspects.
"We didn't do this for ourselves, but for our religion," a suspect was
quoted by the Turkish daily Hurriyet as saying. "Our religion is being
destroyed. Let this be a lesson to enemies of our religion."
Turkish sources said the Zirve publishing house had been the target of
violent demonstrations. The company was accused of trying to convert Muslims
to
Christianity.
"Even if the exact circumstances of the crime are not yet known, I most
strongly condemn this brutal crime," German ambassador Eckart Cuntz said.
The latest deaths come more than a year after a Catholic priest was
killed by a teenager. The priest was shot while praying in his church in
February 2006. Christians comprise less than one percent of Turkey's
population.
Maltya was said to be a stronghold of Islamic fundamentalists, the
leading constituency of the government of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan. One
of its residents, Mehmet Ali Agca, shot Pope John Paul II in 1981.
The Zirve publishing house was directed by a pastor of a Protestant
church in Izmit, one of the victims in the attack. Turkish sources said
Zirve was connected to a South African-owned Christian publishing house
long targeted by nationalists.
"We five are brothers," a letter found on five suspects in the killings
said. "We are going to our deaths. We may not return."
