EFFORTS TO TIE MALATYA MURDERS TO ‘DEEP STATE’ FIZZLE

Compass Direct News : TURKEY - EFFORTS TO TIE MALATYA MURDERS TO ‘DEEP STATE’ FIZZLE

rosecutors’ efforts to tie the murderers of three Christians here to state-linked masterminds were set back on Friday (May 22) when the alleged ring-leader unexpectedly contradicted his previous testimony implicating a suspected “middleman.” As the suspected middleman between the murderers and “deep state” elements, Huseyin Yelki, was testifying at Friday’s hearing, Emre Gunaydin – whose previous private testimony led to Yelki’s arrest – stood up and said, “Huseyin Yelki is not guilty, he’s being held in prison for no reason.” The prosecuting team and judges at the Malatya Third Criminal Court froze at the statement, and then demanded to know why he had previously implicated Yelki. Gunaydin said he did so because Yelki was a Christian missionary. Yelki testified during the court hearing that he had met Gunaydin only once prior to the murders. Gunaydin’s retraction raised suspicion among the judges that in recent months he has received visits in prison from those behind the murders who have pressured him to change his statement. Tired and frustrated, lead prosecutor Orhan Kemal Cengiz told Compass, “My conclusion is that we’re going nowhere, because the powers behind the scenes were very successful in organizing everything.”