MURDER IN ANATOLIA - European Stability Initiative - ESI

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we live in England?” he was said to have yelled. 74 Local newspapers chimed in. “Now it is
the turn of the Vatican representation” ran one of the headlines, alluding to the attempt by
Mehmet Ali Agca, himself a native of Malatya province close to the Grey Wolves, to kill
Pope John Paul II in 1981. 75 The Kayra office closed in 2005. 76
The third victim, Ugur Yuksel, moved to Malatya in 2005. Ugur came from an Alevi family
in Elazig province, which is close to Malatya. He studied engineering in Western Turkey
where he converted to Christianity. After financial problems forced him to give up his
studies, he moved back home, where he tried to earn money by running a phone shop. For
almost a year he was “the only Christian in the region, with no Christian community, not
even a group of Christians who prayed or read the bible together.” 77 Ugur moved to Malatya,
where he found a job at the Zirve publishing house. Wolfgang Hade described his sorrows:
“For a long time he has been planning to marry. But there are repeated obstacles:
finances, religion, and parents‟ approval. Necati and Semse sometimes told him jestingly,
„You will get married in heaven.‟” 78
b. Emre’s world
Emre Gunaydin, the alleged leader of the group charged with the murders, was born in 1988
in Malatya. He lived with his father Mustafa, who worked as a technician at Malatya
University. Mustafa Gunaydin also owned a martial arts centre. The father later told the
court,
“I am known in Malatya for having ulkucu [ultra-nationalist] views. But this is based on
my thinking during my youth. Now I am not linked with anyone.” 79
Emre finished school in 2006. He wanted to become a lawyer. Having twice failed the very
competitive university entrance exam, Emre persuaded his father to find him a place at a
private dormitory for students from outside Malatya. It would help him prepare for his third
attempt, he explained. 80 According to Mustafa Gunaydin, his son said that
“There were students with good grades in the dormitory. If he studied with them that
would be useful. That is why I registered him in January 2007 in the dormitory of the
Ihlas Foundation. He chose that dormitory himself. After one and a half to two months
the director of the dorm called me and said that Emre was not obeying the rules, that he
was loud at night, switching on the lights, and that I should take him from the dorm,
which I did.” 81
74 Ibid.
75 Hurriyet, “Malatya Katliami azmettiricisini ariyor” [The instigator of the Malatya crime is searched for], 8
June 2008, http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/pazar/9125156.asp.
76 The head of the Kayra office in Malatya, Martin De Lange could not extend his work permit in 2005 so he
returned to South Africa. When he wanted to return to Malatya to attend the funeral of the three missionaries in
April 2007 he found that his name was blacklisted. “South Africa: Barred Pastor: Church Complains”, Aksie
1:8, 24 April 2007, http://www.aksie18.co.za/pdf/turkye_moorde.pdf.
77 Wolfgang Hade, Mein Schwager – ein Martyrer; eine Geschichte des turkischen Christen Necati Aydin [My
brother in law – a martyr; a story of the Turkish Christian Necati Aydin], Neufeld Verlag, 2009, pp. 64-65.
78 Ibid, p. 86.
79 Protocol of the 16 th court hearing, 13 April 2009, p. 5.
80 Emre Gunaydin‟s father Mustafa in the Protocol of the 16 th Court Hearing, 13 April 2009, p. 3.
81 Protocol of the 16 th Court Hearing, 13 April 2009, p. 4.
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