Turkey launches manhunt for priest killer

"Turkey vowed on Monday to hunt down the killer of an Italian Catholic priest in an attack widely denounced as provocation amid the Muslim uproar over European cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed."

"Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the murder of Andrea Santoro, a 61-year-old Italian, who was shot twice in the entrance of the Santa Maria church on Sunday in the northern city of Trabzon.

"We cannot accept the fact that a priest could be killed by bullets in a holy place while performing his religious duties," the prime minister said late on Sunday in Istanbul."

"We believe this brutal murder is an isolated incident," he said. "We hope it will not be repeated and will not harm the climate of tolerance in our country."
Middle East Times