Compass Direct News : TURKEY - ONE YEAR AFTER MURDERS, ONE MAN BLAMED
On the eve of the one-year mark of the slaughter of three Christians here, the impartiality of the judges in the case is in doubt, and the young men on trial have now shifted the blame to one man.
Accused killers Cuma Ozdemir, Abuzer Yildirim and Salih Gurler had been caught at the scene of the crime on April 18, 2007, butcher knives in their hands and the blood of the victims on their clothing. But like Hamit Ceker, the first suspect to testify in January, the three suspects declared at the fifth hearing on Monday (April 14) that they had not participated in the actual killings of Turkish Christians Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel and German Christian Tilmann Geske.
Instead, in Malatya Third Criminal Court they claimed it was Emre Gunaydin, the fifth culprit and alleged ringleader of the attack, who personally tortured and then slit the throats of the three Christians.
In their statements before a packed courtroom, the three said Gunaydin had deceived them, telling them his plan was just to infiltrate and intimidate these “Christian missionaries” whom he claimed were trying to divide Turkey and destroy Islam.
“We will go to their office and gather information,” suspect Gurler said Gunaydin told them the night before the attack. “The information would contain the intentions of the missionaries and their activities,” he explained, including CDs and computer files.
According to Ozdemir, Gunaydin said the purpose of buying five knives and a considerable length of clothesline cord was “to be used to frighten them” and extract more information.
When Ozdemir asked about the three guns they were taking along, he said Gunaydin told him, “I’ll explain that later.”
Although the suspects admitted they followed Gunaydin’s orders to force the Christians onto the floor, tie their hands and feet and then stuff their mouths with towels, they insisted they had tried to stop him when he began to stab and torture the victims.
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