Court Will Hear New Witnesses in Zirve Massacre Case

At the 15th hearing of the case, the court ordered 10 others to testify on the murder of three Protestants for alleged "missionary activities." Lawyers insist deep state involvement has been revealed.

Erol Önderoğlu

A Malatya court has called 10 more witnesses in the case regarding the murder of three Protestants in Zirve Publishing House.

The judge ordered Onur Dulkadir, Erkan Yılmaz, Mustafa Günaydın, Zeki Dağ, Burcu Polat, Hamit Özpolat, Ruhi Abat, Mehmet Ülger, Salih Demir and Mehmet Çolak to be brought to court on April 13th.

A group of nationalists had planned and murdered Tilman Ekkehart Geske, Necati Aydın and Uğur Yüksel on April 18th, 2007, for their alleged “missionary activities.”

The main murder suspect, Emre Gunaydın, and other detainees Cuma Ozdemir, Abuzer Yıldırım, Salih Gürler and Hamit Ceker attended the hearing on February 20.

Two others, Varol Bulent Aral and Huseyin Yelki were arrested recently on allegations of soliciting the murders. The police investigation, which led to the development, is continuing alongside the court hearings. Aral and Yelki will be interrogated during the next hearing.

Lawyer Ozkan Yucel had welcomed this last development, as it proved that “the murders weren’t attributed to just five youngsters, that the state agencies supported the murders, or at least that protection was offered to them.”

The case would eventually lead and merge to the Ergenekon case, Yucel had predicted.(EÖ/AGÜ)

Origin

BÄ°A News Center

Malatya murder trial

Erol Önderoğlu

[email protected]

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A graduate of the French Language and Literature Department at İstanbul University. He has served as the Turkey representative for the international organization Reporters Without...

A graduate of the French Language and Literature Department at İstanbul University. He has served as the Turkey representative for the international organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), where he began as a reporter in 1996. Since 1999, he has worked at bianet, a project of the IPS Communication Foundation, as the coordinator of the Legal Support Desk, editor for freedom of expression, and editor-in-chief. He has authored more than 4,800 signed news articles and opinion pieces. He has also written for Bizim Gazete and the journal Güncel Hukuk. He currently prepares the Media Monitoring Reports at bianet.