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TURKEY : GERMAN SEMINARY INVESTIGATES MALATYA MURDERS
By Elizabeth Kendal
Journal Chretien, France
May 2 2007
AUSTRALIA (ANS) - The following report from Martin Bucer Seminary (MBS)
Bonn, Germany, was compiled by Titus Vogt, MBS Dean of International
Programs. The English translation was done by Thomas K. Johnson, Ph.D.,
MBS Professor of Apologetics and Ethics. Elizabeth Kendal WEA RLC
[email protected]
THE LAST HOURS OF THE THREE MARTYRS :
Necati Aydin, Ugur Yuksel, and Tilmann Geske
The assassins deceived the victims in order to gain their trust.
Martin Bucer Seminary (Bonn, Germany) reconstructs the last hours of
its student, Necati Aydin.
Martin Bucer Seminary (MBS) Dean for International Programs, Titus
Vogt, led an investigation into the tragic events of 18 April 2007 by
means of putting together the statements from all the witnesses. MBS
remains close to the victims, survivors, and witnesses to the brutal
murder in Malatya through its Turkish branch, as one of the victims,
Necati Aydin, was their student. Until now, MBS has hesitated to give
all the details to the public, but MBS President Thomas Schirrmacher
has concluded now that nothing stands in the way of a full public
statement of all the details.
MURDERERS SPENT MONTHS SURREPTITIOUSLY GAINING THE TRUST OF THE VICTIMS
Some months ago the murderers gained the trust of their intended
victims. To do this, the assassins indicated an interest in the
Christian faith and said they wanted more information about the
Bible and its contents. What deception could be more powerful to
Bible publishers who were themselves adult converts from Islam to
Christianity ? Under this guise, they met repeatedly with their future
victims. Clearly the attack was planned well in advance.
On the morning of 18 April, two of the murderers came to the office
of Zirve Publishing House in Malatya, which is an extension of a
Protestant publisher based in Istanbul, with distribution offices
in various Turkish cities. Among other things, they discussed the
Christian faith with Necati Aydin, as they had done frequently over
the previous months. On this particular morning, in addition to
Tilmann Geske, the bookkeeper, Emin M., was also in the office.
Everything seemed to be completely normal. In the course of the
morning, M. left the office, not suspecting that he would never see
Aydin and Geske alive again.
Shortly thereafter the three other assassins arrived and tied up the
first two victims, while they threatened them with pistols. Two days
before, the assassins had been taken into custody because of wielding
weapons in public, but they had been set free because they were only
carrying warning pistols.
As soon as the victims were tied up, the murderers began stabbing
them with knives all over their bodies. A short time later Ugur
Yuksel came into the office ; he was immediately grabbed by the
murderers and tied up. Right after that Gokhan H., also a Christian,
stopped by the Zirve office, but he could not open the door, because
it was locked from inside and the lock was jammed. H. tried to call
the office and finally reached Ugur on the telephone. Ugur said that
the planned meeting was not going to be held in the Zirve office ;
it would instead be held in a particular hotel. H. had the impression
that something was wrong, so he called a friend in the city. This
friend advised him to call the police, which Gokham H. did.
When the police arrived a few minutes later, the victims were still
alive. The police demanded that the criminals open the door, at which
they slit the throats of the victims. When the police forced the door
and stormed the office, they found Aydin and Geske already dead.
Yuksel was still alive and was rushed to a local hospital. In spite
of emergency surgery and 51 units of blood, he died of his numerous
and massive knife wounds.
The autopsy reports lead to the following picture : The bodies were
covered with about 156 knife wounds in the pelvis area, lower body,
anus, abdomen, and back. Their fingertips had been sliced repeatedly ;
and they had massive slashes on their necks which severed the windpipe
and oesophagus.
The distinctively ritual manner of the murder, particularly the
slicing of fingertips, is convincing observers of the consciously
religious motivation of the assassins. The perpetrators seem to have
been following the instructions of Sure 8:12, from the Koran. There
it says (in the Rudi Paret German translation of the Koran), "I will
strike terror into the hearts of unbelievers. Flay their necks (with
a sword) and strike every finger." The last half of the sentence
is translated in even more striking terms in some versions. In the
Rassoul and Zaidan translation it says, "chop off every finger ;"
the Azhar and Ahmadeyya translation says, "chop off every finger tip."
Three of the attackers were arrested directly in the office, where the
attack was occurring ; two tried to escape by climbing down an external
downspout pipe. One more attacker was arrested in the second floor
of the building, one floor below the crime scene. The final assassin,
who is described by the others as the leader of the group, fell to the
street from a significant height when the downspout pipe broke off from
the wall of the building. He was brought to a hospital and spent some
days in a coma, but he is now awake and is being questioned by police.
In the course of the next few days, some other suspects were taken
into custody, including the son of a mayor (AKP party) from a town
near to Malatya.
FIRST TURKISH MARTYRS SINCE 1923
At a press conference a day after the attack, Pastor Ihsan Ozbek
(from Ankara), President of the Association of Protestant Churches in
Turkey, said "Yesterday Turkey was buried in the darkness of the Middle
East." He compared the common, country-wide, widely hawked conspiracy
theories which accuse Christians of conspiring against Muslims with
the medieval witch hunts in Europe. These conspiracy theories contain
a deep phobia of foreign missionaries. In responding to an inquiry of
why Geske, a foreign missionary, was in Malatya, Ozbek said this is
already an unconscionable question, since in a truly democratic state
one may not ask "why are you or they in Malatya ?" The pastor used
very pointed words to portray the background of the murders which
led the Turkish media to entitle a report on the news conference,
"A gruesome brutality, but no surprise." Ozbek said he was convinced
that, "it is not the last martyrdom, though we hope from the bottom
of our hearts that it could be the last martyrdom."
Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel are the first known Muslim converts to
Christianity to be martyred, since the founding of the Turkish Republic
in 1923. Ugur Yuksel was buried according to Islamic/Alevitic rituals
at the orders of his family which vehemently denies his Christian
faith. The German victim was buried on 20 April in the Armenian
cemetery in Malatya, following the wishes of his widow. This occurred
after a bitter fight with the local authorities who unconditionally
wanted to prevent Geske's burial in their city.
Because of pressure applied by the German government, his burial
was only delayed by three hours, from 2:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. Eye
witnesses say that about 100 mourners from across Turkey came to his
funeral. Necati Aydin, who was pastor of the local Protestant church
in addition to his work in the Zirve Publishing House, was laid to
rest on Saturday, 21 April, in his home town of Izmir. The roughly
500 mourners who attended his funeral were very deeply moved.
MEDIA STORM IN TURKEY
There has been an enormous media storm in Turkey following these
events. Many Turks sent letters to the newspapers to express their
deep disgust. The widow, Susanne Geske, earned tremendous admiration
for her words in a TV interview the day after the massacre. She said
she forgave the murderers of her husband, the way Christ forgave his
murderers, citing Jesus' prayer, "Father, forgive them, for they do
not know what they are doing." This is the reason why she wants to
stay in Malatya with her children. Many letters to the newspapers are
saying that now they really want to read the New Testament or even
to describe themselves as Christians, since they no longer want to
have anything to do with Islam.
This brutal attack is not really the act of a group of deluded youth,
since the media has been provoking antagonism against Christians for
a long time. One of the most harmless media lies is that Christian
are paying Muslims to convert to Christianity ; one of the more
disturbing is that Christians offer prostitutes to Muslims, in
order to entice them to become Christians. Two events related to the
funeral of Necati Aydin serve to illustrate the deep ambivalence of
Turkish society toward Christians. When his coffin was to be flown
from Malatya to Izmir, it would not fit into the x-ray machine in
airport security. The Turkish newspapers reported that the airport
security staff simply broke the handles off the coffin, a sign of their
feelings. And during his funeral, one of the police officers standing
guard over the funeral called one of the mourners "a son of a whore."
Last Sunday (22 April 2007) the services of many Protestant churches
took place under heavy police guard. In one small congregation in
one of the parts of Istanbul, two top local police officials came
to enquire about their security needs and to urgently suggest the
installation of an alarm system and security cameras. And because of
the continuing massive threats, many pastors are now accompanied by
security guards. This causes great concern for believers in Turkey.
In spite of truly positive developments in the realm of freedom of
religion in recent years, they now see their freedom of religion as
deeply threatened.
By Elizabeth Kendal
Journal Chretien, France
May 2 2007
AUSTRALIA (ANS) - The following report from Martin Bucer Seminary (MBS)
Bonn, Germany, was compiled by Titus Vogt, MBS Dean of International
Programs. The English translation was done by Thomas K. Johnson, Ph.D.,
MBS Professor of Apologetics and Ethics. Elizabeth Kendal WEA RLC
[email protected]
THE LAST HOURS OF THE THREE MARTYRS :
Necati Aydin, Ugur Yuksel, and Tilmann Geske
The assassins deceived the victims in order to gain their trust.
Martin Bucer Seminary (Bonn, Germany) reconstructs the last hours of
its student, Necati Aydin.
Martin Bucer Seminary (MBS) Dean for International Programs, Titus
Vogt, led an investigation into the tragic events of 18 April 2007 by
means of putting together the statements from all the witnesses. MBS
remains close to the victims, survivors, and witnesses to the brutal
murder in Malatya through its Turkish branch, as one of the victims,
Necati Aydin, was their student. Until now, MBS has hesitated to give
all the details to the public, but MBS President Thomas Schirrmacher
has concluded now that nothing stands in the way of a full public
statement of all the details.
MURDERERS SPENT MONTHS SURREPTITIOUSLY GAINING THE TRUST OF THE VICTIMS
Some months ago the murderers gained the trust of their intended
victims. To do this, the assassins indicated an interest in the
Christian faith and said they wanted more information about the
Bible and its contents. What deception could be more powerful to
Bible publishers who were themselves adult converts from Islam to
Christianity ? Under this guise, they met repeatedly with their future
victims. Clearly the attack was planned well in advance.
On the morning of 18 April, two of the murderers came to the office
of Zirve Publishing House in Malatya, which is an extension of a
Protestant publisher based in Istanbul, with distribution offices
in various Turkish cities. Among other things, they discussed the
Christian faith with Necati Aydin, as they had done frequently over
the previous months. On this particular morning, in addition to
Tilmann Geske, the bookkeeper, Emin M., was also in the office.
Everything seemed to be completely normal. In the course of the
morning, M. left the office, not suspecting that he would never see
Aydin and Geske alive again.
Shortly thereafter the three other assassins arrived and tied up the
first two victims, while they threatened them with pistols. Two days
before, the assassins had been taken into custody because of wielding
weapons in public, but they had been set free because they were only
carrying warning pistols.
As soon as the victims were tied up, the murderers began stabbing
them with knives all over their bodies. A short time later Ugur
Yuksel came into the office ; he was immediately grabbed by the
murderers and tied up. Right after that Gokhan H., also a Christian,
stopped by the Zirve office, but he could not open the door, because
it was locked from inside and the lock was jammed. H. tried to call
the office and finally reached Ugur on the telephone. Ugur said that
the planned meeting was not going to be held in the Zirve office ;
it would instead be held in a particular hotel. H. had the impression
that something was wrong, so he called a friend in the city. This
friend advised him to call the police, which Gokham H. did.
When the police arrived a few minutes later, the victims were still
alive. The police demanded that the criminals open the door, at which
they slit the throats of the victims. When the police forced the door
and stormed the office, they found Aydin and Geske already dead.
Yuksel was still alive and was rushed to a local hospital. In spite
of emergency surgery and 51 units of blood, he died of his numerous
and massive knife wounds.
The autopsy reports lead to the following picture : The bodies were
covered with about 156 knife wounds in the pelvis area, lower body,
anus, abdomen, and back. Their fingertips had been sliced repeatedly ;
and they had massive slashes on their necks which severed the windpipe
and oesophagus.
The distinctively ritual manner of the murder, particularly the
slicing of fingertips, is convincing observers of the consciously
religious motivation of the assassins. The perpetrators seem to have
been following the instructions of Sure 8:12, from the Koran. There
it says (in the Rudi Paret German translation of the Koran), "I will
strike terror into the hearts of unbelievers. Flay their necks (with
a sword) and strike every finger." The last half of the sentence
is translated in even more striking terms in some versions. In the
Rassoul and Zaidan translation it says, "chop off every finger ;"
the Azhar and Ahmadeyya translation says, "chop off every finger tip."
Three of the attackers were arrested directly in the office, where the
attack was occurring ; two tried to escape by climbing down an external
downspout pipe. One more attacker was arrested in the second floor
of the building, one floor below the crime scene. The final assassin,
who is described by the others as the leader of the group, fell to the
street from a significant height when the downspout pipe broke off from
the wall of the building. He was brought to a hospital and spent some
days in a coma, but he is now awake and is being questioned by police.
In the course of the next few days, some other suspects were taken
into custody, including the son of a mayor (AKP party) from a town
near to Malatya.
FIRST TURKISH MARTYRS SINCE 1923
At a press conference a day after the attack, Pastor Ihsan Ozbek
(from Ankara), President of the Association of Protestant Churches in
Turkey, said "Yesterday Turkey was buried in the darkness of the Middle
East." He compared the common, country-wide, widely hawked conspiracy
theories which accuse Christians of conspiring against Muslims with
the medieval witch hunts in Europe. These conspiracy theories contain
a deep phobia of foreign missionaries. In responding to an inquiry of
why Geske, a foreign missionary, was in Malatya, Ozbek said this is
already an unconscionable question, since in a truly democratic state
one may not ask "why are you or they in Malatya ?" The pastor used
very pointed words to portray the background of the murders which
led the Turkish media to entitle a report on the news conference,
"A gruesome brutality, but no surprise." Ozbek said he was convinced
that, "it is not the last martyrdom, though we hope from the bottom
of our hearts that it could be the last martyrdom."
Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel are the first known Muslim converts to
Christianity to be martyred, since the founding of the Turkish Republic
in 1923. Ugur Yuksel was buried according to Islamic/Alevitic rituals
at the orders of his family which vehemently denies his Christian
faith. The German victim was buried on 20 April in the Armenian
cemetery in Malatya, following the wishes of his widow. This occurred
after a bitter fight with the local authorities who unconditionally
wanted to prevent Geske's burial in their city.
Because of pressure applied by the German government, his burial
was only delayed by three hours, from 2:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. Eye
witnesses say that about 100 mourners from across Turkey came to his
funeral. Necati Aydin, who was pastor of the local Protestant church
in addition to his work in the Zirve Publishing House, was laid to
rest on Saturday, 21 April, in his home town of Izmir. The roughly
500 mourners who attended his funeral were very deeply moved.
MEDIA STORM IN TURKEY
There has been an enormous media storm in Turkey following these
events. Many Turks sent letters to the newspapers to express their
deep disgust. The widow, Susanne Geske, earned tremendous admiration
for her words in a TV interview the day after the massacre. She said
she forgave the murderers of her husband, the way Christ forgave his
murderers, citing Jesus' prayer, "Father, forgive them, for they do
not know what they are doing." This is the reason why she wants to
stay in Malatya with her children. Many letters to the newspapers are
saying that now they really want to read the New Testament or even
to describe themselves as Christians, since they no longer want to
have anything to do with Islam.
This brutal attack is not really the act of a group of deluded youth,
since the media has been provoking antagonism against Christians for
a long time. One of the most harmless media lies is that Christian
are paying Muslims to convert to Christianity ; one of the more
disturbing is that Christians offer prostitutes to Muslims, in
order to entice them to become Christians. Two events related to the
funeral of Necati Aydin serve to illustrate the deep ambivalence of
Turkish society toward Christians. When his coffin was to be flown
from Malatya to Izmir, it would not fit into the x-ray machine in
airport security. The Turkish newspapers reported that the airport
security staff simply broke the handles off the coffin, a sign of their
feelings. And during his funeral, one of the police officers standing
guard over the funeral called one of the mourners "a son of a whore."
Last Sunday (22 April 2007) the services of many Protestant churches
took place under heavy police guard. In one small congregation in
one of the parts of Istanbul, two top local police officials came
to enquire about their security needs and to urgently suggest the
installation of an alarm system and security cameras. And because of
the continuing massive threats, many pastors are now accompanied by
security guards. This causes great concern for believers in Turkey.
In spite of truly positive developments in the realm of freedom of
religion in recent years, they now see their freedom of religion as
deeply threatened.