Christians in Turkey have asked for people to pray as a court is reviewing sentences handed down last year over the killing of three Christian missionaries in eastern Turkey in April, 2007.
German missionary Tilmann Geske and Turkish converts Necati Aydin and Uğur Yüksel were repeatedly stabbed and had their throats cut when they were attacked at the Christian Zirve Publishing House in Malatya.
Last week a court in the western city of Gaziantep upheld life sentences given in September, 2016, to five perpetrators linked to the murders but it also expressed doubts over other verdicts in the case, trial observers said.
The court reportedly claimed that prison sentences for retired Chief of Staff Colonel Mehmet Ulger and Major Haydar Yesil were based “on legal inconsistencies” and need re-examination.
Christians said the two officers were apparently involved in the planning and preparation of the murders along with others set free for an alleged lack of evidence.
Advocacy group Middle East Concern said Christians in Turkey had called for people to pray that “the motivation and the masterminds behind these murders will be revealed” and “the review process will proceed smoothly, and just verdicts will be upheld”.
They also asked for prayer that “relatives and friends of the victims will know God’s peace as the justice process continues.”
The 2007 attack came months after the killing of the ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink and a year after the murder of a Catholic priest in northern Turkey.
