Malatya Murders

The case of the murder of three Christian men at the Zirve Publishing House in Malatya, Tilman Ekkehart Geske (of German origin), Necati Aydın and Uğur Yüksel, continued at the Malatya 3rd Heavy Penal Court on Friday (22 May), the 17th hearing of the case.

There are nine defendants, seven of them up to now in detention, in the trial of the murders which were committed on 18 April 2007.

Günaydın's accusations

Main suspect Emre Günaydın had previously accused Varol Bülent Aral, a man he met when briefly working for a local newspaper, of instigating the murders.

Aral was arrested as a suspected instigator and has also been called to make a statement in court in the ongoing Ergenekon trial. As he is being held in an Istanbul prison, he was not brought to the latest Malatya hearing.

At the hearing on Friday, Günaydin retracted an accusation he had levelled against detained Hüseyin Yelki, apologising for "the aspersion".

The hearing was attended by detained suspects Hüseyin Yelki, Emre Günaydın, Cuma Özdemir, Abuzer Yıldırım, Salih Gürler and Hamit Çeker.

Yelki released

Joint attorney Özkan Yücel told bianet after the hearing that the court completed the questioning of Yelki, who was released with the condition that he not leave the country. He will be tried without detention.

The court also listened to Ruhi Abat, research assistant at İnönü University's theology department, and retired Colonel Mehmet Çolak, former Gendarmerie Regiment Commander. They had been called as witnesses.

At the next hearing, on 19 June, the court will listen to witness Burcu Polat and take a statement from detained Aral.

In addition, bank transactions of Yelki and the other suspects will be investigated. The court rejected the demand of the defense lawyers to investigate whether missionary work was a crime.

Possible connection to Ergenekon

The court had previously decided to ask the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecution whether there was a connection between the Malatya murders and the Ergenekon investigation. As no answer has been made yet, the court will write to the prosecution again.

Retired General Veli Küçük, a detained suspect in the Ergenekon trial, had said that two inmates in Mersin prison had written an email to the Taraf daily newspaper, saying that Küçük was the instigator or organiser of the Malatya murders, and that he had been questioned as to the murders at the Silivri prison where he was being held on 6 May. (EÖ/AG)