TURKEY: 10 held over murders at Christian publisher

Police have detained 10 suspects in the murder of three people working at Zirve publishing house, a distributor of bibles and Christian literature

Straits Times
Friday, April 20, 2007

Malatya --- Turkish police have detained 10 suspects in the gruesome murder of three people at a publishing house that distributed bibles and Christian literature, officials said yesterday.

The killings on Wednesday in the eastern city of Malatya had shocked the country, which is bidding for European Union membership.

The three victims, one of them a German, were found tied to chairs with their throats slit at the Zirve publishing house that had received threats for dealing in Christian literature.

Turkish newspapers said five of the suspects were found carrying a letter that read: "We did it for our country. They are trying to take our country away, take our religion away."

Date Posted: 4/20/2007