WORLD / Europe |
5 held in Turkey Bible murders(AP)Updated: 2007-04-23 09:51 ANKARA, Turkey - A court jailed five suspects Sunday on murder charges linked to the killings of three Christians who were tied up and had their throats slit at a publishing house which had drawn protests by nationalists for distributing Bibles. Six others were released pending trial, the court said. It was unclear what charges the six faced and a trial date has not yet been set. A 12th suspect, who tried to escape from police by jumping from a fourth-floor balcony at the scene of the killings, remains hospitalized in stable condition and was expected to be charged later. The three victims - a German man and two Turks who converted to Christianity - were killed Wednesday at a Christian publishing house in Malatya. The attack added to concerns in Europe about whether the predominantly Muslim country - which is bidding for European Union membership - can protect its religious minorities. Christians make up just a fraction of 1 percent of Turkey's population of 71 million. Christian leaders said they are worried that nationalists were stoking hostilities against non-Turks and non-Muslims by exploiting growing uncertainty over Turkey's place in the world. The uncertainty - and growing suspicion against foreigners - has been driven by the faltering EU bid, a resilient Kurdish separatist movement and by increasingly vocal Islamists who see themselves - and Turkey - as locked in battle with a hostile Christian West. |
|