MURDER IN ANATOLIA - European Stability Initiative - ESI

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To be identified as a PKK sympathizer could be a death sentence. Note that it was the claim
(however tendentious) that missionaries were supporting separatists in Turkey, more than
their religious activities, which was at the heart of the ultranationalist campaign against them
in recent years.
One of the most important and encouraging changes in Turkey since the Malatya court case
began in late 2007 has been a decrease in openly anti-Christian media reports. There has also
been a noticeable decline in the violence targeting Christians in Turkey. This can be
quantified: in recent years the Association of Protestant Churches in Turkey has published
annual reports about human rights violations against Protestants. According to the most
recent report, “many church leaders and the Protestant Community‟s legal counsel continue
to find themselves under police protection because their lives are under threat.” 232 However,
there is an encouraging trend. The 2007 Report listed 19 physical attacks, including the
Malatya murders. 233 In 2008 the number of incidents was down to 14, and nobody was
killed. 234 In 2009, the report lists only two attacks. 235 For Orhan Kemal Cengiz there were
two explanations for the drop in attacks:
“On the one hand there has been self-control by national media after the 2007 killings not
to target Christians anymore. On the other hand there is the effect of the Ergenekon
arrests. The kitchen in which the attacks against Christians were prepared was seriously
hit.” 236
It remains to be seen whether this trend will hold. In 2010 another crime shocked Turkey
when a Catholic bishop Luigi Padovese was stabbed and killed; the court case concerning his
murder is set to begin later this year. 237
Will the further course of the Malatya court case contribute to elucidating the background of
ultranationalist violence in Turkey? On 15 April 2010 the victims‟ families‟ lawyers wrote a
letter to the Presidency of the Court in Malatya, 238 in which they demanded that the numerous
links between the suspects in the Malatya case and those in the Ergenekon trials be
investigated more thoroughly. 239 A decision as to whether to merge the Malatya court case
with other current trials looking at alleged crimes of the deep state is yet to be taken, despite
repeated requests by the lawyers.
232
Association of Protestant Churches, Report on Human Rights Violations 2009, 30 January 2010,
http://www.protestankiliseler.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1153&Itemid=471.
233
Association of Protestant Churches (Turkey), Report On Human Rights Violations 2007, January 2008,
http://www.protestankiliseler.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1137&Itemid=459.
234
Association of Protestant Churches (Turkey), Report On Human Rights Violations 2008, January 2009,
http://www.protestankiliseler.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1138&Itemid=460.
235
Association of Protestant Churches (Turkey), Report On Human Rights Violations 2009, 30 January 2010.
Luigi Padovese, a Roman Catholic bishop, was stabbed to death in in the Mediterranean port of Iskenderun in
June 2010.
236
Association of Protestant Churches, Press Conference in Ankara, 5 October 2010.
237
On the parallels between the 2010 Padovese murder case and previous attacks see also the interview with
laywer Erdal Dogan in the Turkish weekly Agos: Funda Tosun, “Asil plan Papa‟nin oldurulmesi miydi?”, AGOS
Nr 24, 18 June 2010. English translation here: http://www.esiweb.org/pdf/Turkey%20-
%20AGOS%2018%20June%202010%20Dogan%20on%20Padovese.pdf.
238
Hafize Cobanoglu, Nalan Erkem, Murat Dincer, Ali Riza Kilic, Orhan Kemal Cengiz, Ozkan Yucel, Erdal
Dogan, Ali Koc, Ismail Cem Halavut.
239
Letter of the lawyers of the victims‟ families, sent on 15 April 2010 to the Malatya Court, p. 22.
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