By Thomas Cosmades

The Malatya Story

Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, whose warnings and wooings did not make much of a dent on the hearts of his hearers, reached a moment of exasperation when he cried aloud, “Oh land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord” (22:29). A vast number refused to hear the word. Since that horrendous hour when the land was drenched with the blood of Abel, far too many innocents have been cut down upon the face of this cursed earth.  Asia Minor stands out as a prototype of the numerous regions of our condemned planet which encumbered the prophet of old.  

That portion of the planet which today is Turkey has a long history of remarkable martyrs who laid down their lives for Jesus Christ.  Perhaps the most prominent of these was Antipas (Revelation 2:13 ).  You can read his illustrious account under the title, ‘He Died at Satan’s Throne’ at this website: www.cosmades.org.   Then we meet the gallant and resolute disciple Polycarp (ca. 70-156), who overwhelmed the Roman officer in ancient Smyrna with his classic response, “How can I be unfaithful to him who for four score and six years has been faithful to me, my Lord and my Savior?”  At that point he allowed his blood to be spilled in faithfulness to his living Master.   His deep conviction superseded the desire of preserving his life for a remorseful existence.  Centuries passed, leaving behind the roll of a multitude of martyrs who counted their earthly lives of no value for the transcendence of being with their Savior.  Not many have heard of the Reformed patriarch of Constantinople , Cyril Lukaris, 1572-1638, who was murdered and his body thrown into the Marmara Sea by order of the Sultan.  This happened through the instigation of some of his own people who preferred darkness to light.  

Starting with the Islamization of Anatolia by the Turks in the eleventh century, immense torrents of blood have surged through this land of the Apostles and Church Fathers. Everything has been carried out in accordance with the dictate of the founder of the new religion. The radical transformation came by the claim of superiority over the belief of the Incarnation and triune manifestation of God. No one could have imagined such a development.  The cross was superseded by the crescent.  Against this background, who could foresee the day when a small number of Turks would embrace the faith of God’s Son and alter their religious identification, going so far as to exchange their lives for martyrdom? Those who will be relating the history of the Turkish Christian church will re-tell the appalling events of April 18, 2007 .

The Massacre

 Five young plotters were at work, preparing a monstrous crime.  In their thinking a serious problem had developed in the place they lived.  Malatya ― ancient Melitene ― is a bustling city in central Anatolia . Right in the center of the town Christian missionaries were operating an office and bookstore called ‘Zirve’ (summit).  They had their office on the third floor of the six-storey Agbaba office building.  Here three evangelists were serving Christ, obeying his command, “Go into the whole world.”  That morning they were looking forward to a very exciting appointment with five young Turkish men who for some time had been making inquiries about the Christian faith and had by special invitation attended the Resurrection Sunday service held in a hotel a few days earlier.  Expectantly entering the office, the evangelists could have never imagined that within a few hours’ time their tortured and mutilated bodies would be carried out through that same office door. 

 Two Turkish evangelists, Nejati Aydın, 35, married to Shemse and father of two; and Uğur Yüksel, 32, engaged to a Turkish Christian girl and soon to be married, had made this place the hub of their activity.   The third evangelist was their German colleague, Tilmann Ekkehart Geske, 46, husband of Susanne and father of three.  These men had moved – the two with their families – to Malatya some years before.

The stage was set for the savage torture which included disemboweling the victims, slicing the skin from the bones of their fingers, stabbing them countless times and slitting their throats from ear to ear. Nejati’s mouth and throat area were severely mangled because of hatred for his witness for Christ. The young men were well aware of their Book’s exact instructions: “I will cast a dread into the hearts of the infidels.  Strike off their heads and strike off from them every finger tip.  This, because they have opposed God and his apostle … verily God will be severe in punishment.” (Q.: Sura “The Spoils’ 8/12; for a similar order cf. 47/4.) The attack was so violent that one of the abandoned knives on the floor was completely bent out of shape. The protracted torture lasted about three hours. According to the statement of the killers, during this time the cell phones and doorbell were ringing continuously.  Finally, the police had to forcefully break the door down, where they were confronted with the appalling scene.  Then two of the victims were released as they entered into the company of martyrs for Christ, followed shortly thereafter by the third. The killers who actually were obeying the dictates of their book did not hesitate to employ the sword of Islam against their fellow-countrymen who had dared to abandon their religion in favor of Christ their Savior and his witness.  For this they became objects of the most ferocious savagery that Christians in Turkey had ever endured.  

The killers acted with the same disposition and resolve which consumed the seventeen Al Qaeda terrorists who commandeered the four passenger planes, using them as missiles, on that fateful day of September 11, 2001 .  Thousands of violent deaths and incalculable destruction were the outcome.  The philosophy in both cases was that the people targeted were on the wrong side and needed to be put out of the way, according to Allah’s command.  The malice, hatred and vindictiveness were identical.

 Extensive Torture, Culminating in Slaughter

After the pseudo-seekers were greeted cordially by the unsuspecting evangelists they were offered a glass of tea in the office.  The three Christians started explaining the teaching of the Bible and answering their questions.  It is not known after how many minutes the culprits attacked.  People in other offices of the building were later asked by the police if they had heard anything suspicious.  Most of them said that they thought there was a loud argument going on.  They could not imagine that the Christian office was the scene of multiple torture and murders.  At one point Nejati’s wife Shemse phoned the police, saying that she could not get in touch with her husband on his cell phone.  Some time later the police arrived, finding four of the attackers carrying on their self-appointed act of execution.  The fifth, Emre Günaydın, who was the ring-leader, attempted to make his getaway by jumping out of one of the third storey windows. He had intended to travel on to Izmit in western Turkey to kill another German pastor, Wolfgang Hade, who happens to be Shemse’s brother-in-law.  Emre was not meant to carry out another pernicious scheme. Upon hitting the pavement he sustained severe injuries and was rushed to the hospital. Later his friends related that he is a vindictive and violent person.

 According to the statement of the policemen who entered the office, a shocking scene met their eyes.  The men lay on the floor in pools of blood.  One of the evangelists, Uğur Yüksel, had not yet died. It is understood that he was not assaulted at first, but left to witness the slaughter of his friends.  In the meantime, the killers were commanding Nejati to deny Christianity.  Finally Uğur’s turn came, but they didn’t have enough time to finish him off.  An ambulance arrived on the scene and immediately carried him to the hospital where he died within a few hours. The German ambassador, Dr. Eckart Guntz, who later came to Malatya from Ankara , said, “I was thoroughly disconcerted that in our time such a crime could be committed in the name of religion.”

 The five murderers all lived at a ‘Vakif’ (religious endowment) hostel in the city ― Emre Günaydın, 19, whose lawyer later tried to prove to the court that he was under eighteen (probably because of his small stature), Salih Gürler, 20; Juma Özdemir, 20; Hamit Cheker, 19; and Abuzer Yıldırım, 19.  They systematically carried out the triple execution in cold blood within a few hours. It later came out that all five were determined pawns of an ultranationalist movement, sworn enemies of Christ and his faith.  It also came to light that they were in close touch with the notorious Ergenekon gang.  They established a trusting relationship with the three slain men who could never have imagined that they were targets of a deadly plot.  Later when the police searched the young men’s rooms in their hostel, among other items that they found was this letter, “We are going to death; all five of us are brothers.  It might be that we won’t return alive.  Abnegate your religious claim on any of us.”  (Hakkınızı helal edin, i.e., “disclaim your legitimate right on any of us.”)  This is a typical Islamic demand, frequently used by people who may have hurt someone and in departing they don’t want the grieved party to carry a grudge against them before Allah.  The five attackers had sworn the sentence of death upon themselves.  They were obsessed with the desire for their own martyrdom.  The martyrdom concept of Islam should be mentioned here.  To die for one’s religion or country is to be counted a martyr.  Today if a soldier dies during military service, he is a martyr.  This belief is entirely opposite to martyrdom in the Christian faith.  

 These five nationalistically-motivated killers successfully contrived their strategy to lure the three martyrs.  The ruthless executions shook the whole country and the outside world.  The horrific killings were meant to send a warning to all Christians throughout Turkey , and particularly to those engaged in any Christian activity.  Prior to their notorious act, there were ominous signs of a sinister plan about to be carried out; however no one could have imagined its heinous magnitude.  Politicians were indicating their displeasure about the spread of the Christian witness among Turkish people.  The odious attitude of the nationalistically-oriented media, including a number of TV channels, was becoming more venomous by the day. Naturally, most of the press was aiming at boosting their circulation, capitalizing on the sensitive issues of religion, nationalism and connivance against the ‘motherland’.   With the Islamic government of AKP at the helm, the general feeling in the country was increasingly plain that Christians were not to be trusted or endured. 

 On one hand, the conservative Recep Tayyip Erdoğan government was forcefully pursuing the goal of Turkey ’s acceptance into membership of the European Union. For a protracted time Turkey was displaying a veneer of being democratic with free speech and the recognized right to spread one’s faith.  While this was going on, Christians were being beaten, such as happened to Yakup Jindirli, while he was offering New Testaments to interested people.  This young man sustained severe brain injuries resulting from the attack by a group of ultranationalists (Gray Wolves) in Orhan Gazi, Bursa , in western Turkey .  In several places, churches were stoned or set ablaze. The ‘Agape’ sign of the Samsun church on the Black Sea coast was defaced with graffiti and windows of their meeting place were shattered by huge stones.  A number of court cases were opened against Christians with the accusation that they had insulted the Prophet or Turkishism.  The designation ‘Christian’ became synonymous with treason, agents of foreign powers. The term ‘missionary’ became the dirtiest word of slander in the Turks’ vocabulary. The outlandish accusations of irresponsible inciters could be elaborated on. Individual Christians were receiving nerve-wracking threats and some were kidnapped, including one child.  A few foreigners had to quickly sell everything and get out of the country. 

 First it was Father Andrea Santoro, priest of the Santa Maria Roman Catholic Church in Trabzon , on the Black Sea coast.  While serving mass, he was viciously gunned down by a nationalistic teenager, instigated by like-minded plotters. At the close of his court case, his mother looked squarely into the camera and said, “My son is going to prison for Allah.” Later, Father Pierre Francoise Brumisseu in Samsun and Father Andriano Franchini in Izmir were assaulted with knives, but providentially not killed. The villain in the Franchini attack, Ramazan Bey, seventeen years of age at the time of the assault against the sixty-five year old priest eventually was sentenced to four and a half years in prison after a somber reprimand from the judge.  Before all these crimes, in a modern section of Istanbul , a young stooge of the ultranationalists fatally shot the well-known Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in front of the apartment building in which his newspaper office was located. Turkey ’s Protestants noted that 2007 had been a dark year with a very serious and threatening impact on their infinitesimal community.  In addition to the Malatya brutality, nineteen specific incidents of intimidation and violence against church leaders and church buildings were reported to security officialdom.  A number of pastors are under continuous police protection and several churches hire security guards to ward off attacks from nationalist hoodlums.  

The Role of the Media

 A considerable segment of the media, including some publicity-seeking TV channels, had previously been calling Christians involved in evangelism, ‘provocateurs’.  They were accusing them with a well-known Turkish saying, ‘Selling snails in a Muslim neighborhood.’  (Muslims don’t eat snails, so the implication is, keep your teaching out of their neighborhoods.)  Even following the horrific massacre, the wrath of the public was not against the killers but against the men who had brought this murder on themselves.  This is the logic which has been prevailing in these parts for centuries.

 Much falsehood has accompanied all similar incidents, generally centering on the accusation that Christians who actively proclaim the message of Christ are plotting to bring division among various segments of the population and destroy the unity of the country.  The nationalistic segment of the media was prevaricating the facts by stating that if Christians were merely engaged in a religious effort they wouldn’t mind at all, but behind all Christian activity there are hidden motives. Those who spread the Gospel are involved in political maneuvers under the guise of religion.  Prior to the massacre, an active witch-hunt was underway. Fabricated reports were widely circulating that in Malatya there were many house churches, the figure ranging from forty-eight to ninety-six, and this had to stop!  They had to get to the root of the problem so this massacre was one step in squelching the spread of the Christian message.   If a brutal act such as this had occurred in any other country, the Minister of the Interior would have had to resign. However in Turkey , such incidents don’t jeopardize an official’s position. The same minister is still sitting tight in his office. 

 A clear example of the intense incitement could be seen in a caustic statement issued in 2006 by İzzet Altunbashlı, leader of an extreme racist organization, against a newly-formed church: “This is treason against our Muslim and Turkish identity.” Such expressions of bigotry have been evident in several cases during the past few years.  The ultranationalists take the law into their own hands, using young people, even psychopaths, as tools of their malevolence.  The public is generally fed the rhetoric of these rabid nationalists. In their thinking the country has been invaded by cells of betrayers who have to be dealt with.  İzzet Altunbashlı continued his polemics by making inflammatory remarks about the newly-started church: “This is a center where covert goals of missionaries lurk behind their overt activities.  The church exists for the purpose of dividing our people and country.”  These news reporters also assert that churches are involved in sex and prostitution.

 At the time of the massacre, their target was the Samsun Agape House.  Churches officially are not designated as such, but as ‘house’ in keeping with the law.  The accusation was that young people were being lured to the religion of the missionaries with lavish enticements.  Another critic, Lütfi Keskin, aiming at the same church, wrote in the newspaper ‘Ekip’, “Church visitors were being handed hundred-dollar bills slipped into the pages of the New Testament.  By this bait they were being encouraged to spy on their own country.” In the June 14, 2007 issue of the liberal ‘Tempo’ magazine, Ms Saygı Öztürk quoted Emre Günaydın, the leader of the group of the Malatya murderers, “If I could have managed to escape without getting hurt, more missionaries would have been removed from the scene.”  As mentioned already, he had plans to make the long journey to Izmit to kill Wolfgang Hade, another German missionary.

The Complicated Investigation

The Malatya massacre changed the picture of Christian activity throughout the country.  Turkish pastors and Christian believers intensified their security precautions, which were already in effect.  For some time the state felt under compulsion to assign police guards to several pastors to protect them from attack.  Back to Emre Günaydın, who had made this extravagant promise to his fellow conspirators, “These people have much money.  We will lay our hands on it and solve our need for funds.”  Emre talked about his previous contacts with Wolfgang, to whom he had presented himself as a person with no religion.  When he visited Zirve bookstore in Malatya , he introduced himself in the same way.  His and his fellow-conspirators’ pretext was that they were seekers of the truth.  Actually, on that infamous morning, they had come to the office for a ‘Bible study’, while their real motive was to murder their unsuspecting instructors.  During the court case it came out that the killers, always pretending to be seekers, had been in touch with the victims and other missionaries for eight months, carrying on their devious probe.

Observers of the developments point to an inconsistency in the investigation before the case was brought to court.  It came to the attention of the authorities that Emre Günaydın had changed his mobile device five times during the preceding six months.  It was also verified that he had made thirty-five calls, which remain secret.  The suspect had a number of conversations using his telephone card which are not recorded anywhere.  The photos taken by hidden camera in Günaydın’s room during his nine-day hospital stay were deleted.  It has been substantiated that throughout the previous six-month period the suspects had telephone conversations with members of the police force, prosecuting attorneys, members of parliament, Islamic school teachers and private security members. All these people talked with the killers, according to ‘Milliyet’ newspaper.  Plaintiff lawyer, Engin Jin, demanded that the criminals be tried as perpetrators of genocide rather than as ordinary ‘hit men’ in accordance with the newly-accepted Turkish penal code. They said that this is not a case of five murderers on trial, but a wider collusion.  The aim of the two groups was to annihilate members of the Christian community one by one.  The investigation and reporting of the string of events leading to the massacre are shrouded in mystery.  To mention one example, the court refused access to the five murderers’ computer data.

 As has already been observed, Emre Günaydın was in direct contact with at least two members of the Ergenekon gang.  Eighty-six collaborators of this notorious ring were arrested after their scheme was uncovered. Among them were two retired generals, journalists, lawyers and other nationalists from several walks of life. In the meantime, some have been released and others have been arrested. All these functionaries belong to what is known as ‘ Deep State ’. High profile attacks, murders, even overthrowal of the Turkish government, were all on the agenda of this conspiratory coterie. A recent trial of the Ergenekon gang revealed a whole world of frightening connivances.  The meticulously organized subversives pursued the aim of replacing the Islamist Turkish government with a radical nationalistic junta. At Gölbaşı, a town not far from Ankara , the capital, a cache of arms was unearthed.  Many weapons, hand-bombs and other explosives were found.  This discovery became a burning issue in the media and government circles.  It has come to light that the Ergenekon gang had a broad list of intended assassinations, including Turkey ’s prime minister, members of the highest court and Armenian community leaders.

 The plaintiff attorneys demanded that the Ergenekon file be brought from Istanbul and incorporated into the Malatya massacre trial. This would introduce evidence to the bench that a religious genocide was in the making.  The connection of the Malatya murderers and the Ergenekon gang would finally bring to light that there was a country-wide conspiracy against Protestants whose presence was declared to be a menace to the state. In subsequent court cases, some documents from the Ergenekon preliminary investigation were brought to Malatya .

 Emre Günaydın repeatedly accused the missionaries of denigrating the prophet of Islam.  Some of the killers openly associated the martyrs with PKK, the outlawed Kurdish Marxist faction, carrying on its warfare for an autonomous Kurdistan . Others said that they were supported by the CIA, even by the Israeli Massad agency.  Some of the volunteer plaintiff lawyers were accused of having defended gays and lesbians.  Such was the diversity of disparaging insinuations, all calculated to besmirch the martyrs.  The whole spectrum of the religio-nationalistic community became mobilized in order to minimize the monstrosity of this crime. 

 The plaintiff attorneys insisted that the police video footage of the crime scene taken hours after the murder had been tampered with. They also pointed out that guns had been swapped, apparently with official consent.  The gun fired at the outset of the crime was nowhere to be found; it had been replaced by another one.  In the footage, police arguments regarding the guns were heard.  The lawyers were allowed to look at the footage under the watchful eyes of the police.  The attorneys prevailed in their insistence on having part of the footage shown in the courtroom.  The projection of the horrendous slayings threw the friends of the martyrs into anguish and loud sobbing.  Uğur was repeatedly calling on the name of Christ: Mesih, Mesih! (i.e., ‘Messiah, Messiah!).  Tilmann, in apparent agony, was raising his hands toward heaven.  During the extended duration of the crime, the criminals were strolling among their victims in obvious satisfaction. 

 The appalling scene of the mutilated bodies in pools of their own blood would have touched the stoniest of hearts. Incredulously, Emre Günaydın and Salih Gürler were smirking at the despicable sight.  The other killers turned their heads away from the hideous picture before their eyes.  The judge ordered them to look at the screen, “It is because of you that we are exposed to this loathsome scene,” he said.  Abuzer Yıldırım addressed the judge with a telling reaction: “This whole thing turns my stomach!”  The audience probably struggled to find an answer to the question, “Could there be any element of remorse in these hearts?”  Such an abominable accomplishment will quite likely in the end be laid at the door of the ultranationalist Ergenekon mob.  This cabal clique never restrained themselves from expressing their extreme hatred of non-Turks. The staggering oddity is that one of their top protagonists, Ms Sevgi (love) Erenerol ― under arrest ― is of Greek background.  Her family claims to represent the Patriarchate of the bogus Turkish Orthodox church. The absurd views of the Ergenekon gang were reflected in a court session by one of the defense lawyers: “Why are so many foreigners living in Malatya ?” 

 At the trial the prosecuting attorney presented thirty-one files to the court, sixteen of which dealt with inconsequential Christian activities in the country and particularly of the three murdered men who had all of a sudden become suspects. The names, addresses and other detailed information of Christian workers across the country were included in this collection. Irrelevant harmless travels and conversations of missionaries were all documented to the minutest detail. Anyone hearing the trifling accounts in these non-pertinent files would conclude that the Christian faith was on trial and freedom of religion defied. 

 The activities of Christians were termed ‘questionable’.  The plaintiff attorneys requested that the court remove the sixteen files dealing with the work of missionaries because according to the Turkish constitution nothing illegal was being done by them.  Therefore their involvements could not be categorized as ‘questionable’.  This request was rejected by the court.  In the face of such partiality, the lawyers appealed to a different court to take the case under its jurisdiction.  This request was also rejected and the trial is dragging on in the Malatya court.

 In one of the court sessions attention centered on witness Metin Doğan, handcuffed as he was brought in.  He is already serving a prison sentence for another crime.  He was a former enlisted officer in the military.  He told the court of being a member of the MHP (Extreme Nationalist Party) from his early youth, and that he knew Günaydın well.  On one occasion, Metin was invited to the Party center in Malatya where he met two men who ordered him to threaten the three evangelists and then kill them.  They reassured him that they would clear his name from all legal involvement.  According to his statement one of the two was the retired general, Hikmet Chelik, who was quite adamant in his demand.  Metin however refused to follow those orders.  One of the two said to Doğan, “We will break the pens of the missionaries.”  Another ultranationalistic clique obviously involved in the plot was the Aegean Army. This faction falls into the category of ‘ Deep State ’ (all governmental functions combined).  The five criminals are isolated from each other in prison.  And during the trial, taking of photos is prohibited.

 Another witness, brought to the court in handcuffs, was a local journalist, Bülent Aral.  He was being accused of acting as liaison between the murderers and the Ergenekon coterie.  The citation against him was that he had induced Emre Günaydın, the ring-leader, to target the evangelists because missionaries are ‘an extended arm of PKK’ and so deserve to die.  Aral told the five that he had influence with the higher-ups and would absolve them from any prosecution.  Later he was also arrested. Aral denied having such a hold on the gang of killers.  However, a suspicious web of conspiracy could be detected between Aral and the five.  He was constantly returning to the trivial line that missionaries were catering to the goals of PKK.  Emre insisted that Aral had promised to clear him of any guilt.  During one of the sessions, with the permission of the chair Emre directed a question to Aral: “Where is the support that the higher-ups were going to provide for us?”  The matter has become so complicated that in a later sitting Emre rescinded his accusation against Aral.  The ongoing case is becoming more complicated by the day. Many wonder how long it will be dragged out and what the outcome will be.

The latest stratagem of the chieftain of the crime, Emre Günaydın, was to embroil Huseyin Yelki, 34, in the murders in order to deviate the course of the case.  As a result of this accusation, Huseyin Yelki was arrested on February 9, 2009.  Yelki, who is a resident of Malatya, is a convert to Christianity and former employee of the Zirve bookstore.  He had witnessed in one of the court sessions concerning his employment there.  Following the crime, Huseyin left his work, unwilling to continue living in Malatya.  Emre Günaydın who from the very outset resorted to preposterous tactics to veer the court’s attention from the normal procedure has now dropped this bombshell.  While it has not been determined that Huseyin Yelki had any connection with Emre or the Ergenekon gang the court decided to arrest him and now he is in prison.  The plaintiff attorneys presently cannot point their fingers at any incitement by Yelki to kill the three Christians.

The Funerals  

The funeral services of the three martyrs took place in different cities.  Tilmann Geske, 46, had been living in Malatya for ten years.  His wife Susanne decided to have him buried in the old untended Armenian cemetery outside the city.  Some Christian men who had come from other places grabbed shovels and dug a grave for their slain brother.  In the past this graveyard accommodated the Armenian community in Malatya .  There is just a handful of Armenians there now. It was a touching service; many Turks who attended, including the governor of Malatya , witnessed the difference between a Christian’s internment and the hopeless burial of Muslims.  Susanne said at the court that she would continue living in Malatya , which she is doing with her three children -- Michal, Lukas and Miriam. She expressed gratitude to her Turkish neighbors who had brought her food for three days following the tragic event.  She mentioned that even the imam of the neighborhood visited her, offering his condolence.

 Graveside service in Malatya

The body of Uğur Yüksel, who hailed from an Alevi (Islamic sect) background in Elazığ (east Turkey ), was claimed by his parents.  Legally, they were the ones entitled to bury him.  He had been engaged to a Turkish Christian girl, but not yet married; the fiancé had no right on his remains.  The father made funeral arrangements with the Alevi community in his city.  The paradox is that this Christian martyr, killed by fanatic Muslims, was buried in the midst of Muslim graves with meaningless Islamic ritual, all in Arabic.  His fiancé was watching from the shadows as his family and friends refused to accept in death the faith Uğur had so long professed and died for. The father being heavily pressured by his circle tried to underplay Uğur’s Christian commitment and martyrdom for Christ.  He insisted that Uğur was a Muslim until his death and had joined the Christians because he was unemployed and needed income.  “My son did this only for the sake of steady employment,” he said. Later as a witness in court, he gave a rather confused account.  The irony of it is that Uğur’s application to alter his religious designation from ‘Muslim’ to ‘Christian’ had been approved by the court in Elazığ a long time before.

 Christians carrying Tilmann Geske’s coffin in Malatya

Huge crowd outside Buca Baptist Church in Izmir

The third funeral was remarkable.  In spite of the vehement protests of Nejati Aydın’s relatives, his wife Shemse had legal right to arrange the burial of her husband. Before flying the body from Malatya to Izmir , the coffin was put through the x-ray machine twice at the airport because of the suspicion that there might be explosives inside! The touching funeral service of Nejati was held at the formerly Anglican, presently Baptist, church in the Buca section of Izmir , just weeks before his thirty-sixth birthday.  Over five hundred people attended, including the deputy governor. It was a Christ-honoring service for this Turkish martyr in the presence of many Muslims.  Newspaper articles stated that all of Nejati’s family members were adamantly opposed to the faith of their dead son and brother.  His sister Zeynep became spokesperson for the whole clan, none of whom attended the Christian funeral.  Zeynep was belligerent and intimidating.  She exclaimed, “We could have come with three hundred people and create a scene,” and then added, “but we abstained from it because our religion forbids it!”  Of course, many believed what she said. 

 Crowd in shade outside Buca Baptist Church

Through her acerbic statements, Zeynep approached the point of exonerating the five criminals. She said that the Christians were the ones who had instigated the crime.  Her brother Nebil Aydın spoke along the same lines.  They claimed that Christians had kept Nejati in a mental prison.  Her wish was to take Nejati’s two children and rear them as Muslims, but she could have no claim on them since they were under their mother’s jurisdiction.  Like Uğur’s father, she too insisted that Nejati joined the ranks of the Christians for monetary advantage.  She went on to warn all parents to control their children and prevent them from becoming Christians.  Further, she demanded that the state put an end to all missionary activity.  In the midst of all this extreme agitation, Shemse’s two young children were constantly asking her, “Mommy, will we also be killed because we are Christians?”  Shemse later brought this out when she took the witness stand in court. She and her two children are now safely outside the country.  

Lawyers

 The appalling murders drew deep sympathy from the community of liberal individuals. Nineteen lawyers volunteered their services to take part in the trial and speak out for the murdered Christians.  The Protestant community did not want to leave these generous lawyers without any compensation, as they had traveled long distances from Istanbul and Ankara to Malatya , stayed in hotels and incurred other expenses.  Christians in Turkey as well as those from other countries contributed to defray at least part of their costs.  The spokesman for the team of plaintiff lawyers is Orhan Kemal Jengiz. When he began receiving threats the police authorities in Ankara assigned him an armed bodyguard.  Mr. Jengiz is also a capable writer for the English newspaper, ‘Turkish Daily News’.  His articles are penetrating and thought-provoking.  The following poignant excerpt appeared on April 27, nine days after the massacre:

 “ Turkey was buried yesterday in the darkness of the Middle Ages. For a long period of time the seeds of intolerance, racism and enmity against Christianity have been sown in Turkey . Now those seeds are being harvested one by one. The murder of Father Santoro, Hrant Dink, and the Malatya massacre are in a sense connected. It is very possible that after this incident we will listen to the same speeches that we have heard before and face the same old conspiracy theories. The conspiracies that various intelligence organizations are attempting to stir Turkey up will again be discussed. The dark forces that are trying to stop Turkey 's advancement will be addressed. The short-cut logic used will cast the problem wholly on ‘the others’. After the shock is passed we will listen to the same chorus, the same song of intolerance; they will continue to sing the songs that turn the seeds of hate into a fruitful harvest. Without looking in the mirror, they will pretend the blood that has been spilt has not implicated them. Without feeling, they will continue on in their ways from the place they started.”

 The lawyers, a few of whom were women, immediately came under attack as some of them had participated in the case of the assassinated Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.  Also the fact that some of these lawyers had taken part in the trials of the PKK (Kurdish Leftist Movement) was reason enough to associate the martyrs with undesirable groups. 

 One of the defense lawyers began questioning a witness who testified on behalf of the murdered three about whether Christian missionaries had any authority delegated to them to spread Christianity in a Muslim country.  A plaintiff lawyer was outraged at this question because it violated the constitutional right of any individual to express his beliefs.  Such ill-conceived questions occupied many sessions.  The judges’ refusal to remove the blatantly biased sixteen files opened the way to such extraneous questioning.  One could surmise that a first-page headline in the newspaper ‘Taraf’ was answered at the court. The headline quoted an ultranationalist’s sentiment which aimed to sidetrack the crime, “Don’t bother with the murders; tell us about missionary work.”  (Ed. Recently a Christian missionary in the northern part of Cyprus , which is under Turkish occupation, was warned with this threat, “Remember Malatya”.) 

 The plaintiff lawyers objected to irrelevant information which was not associated with the crime.  Orhan Kemal Jengiz stated in the court that prior to any act of violence against Christians a smear campaign had been carried on and Protestant missionaries were the target of such inciting coverage.  The appellation ‘missionaries’ has been the most repulsive word in Turkish for a long time.  National institutions do not hesitate to postulate this image.  This concept is being taught in schools, in military units and many associations throughout the country.  They have made the historic ‘missionary’ image the most menacing threat to national security.  The nationalists’ vision of Turkey is a country without any Christian citizen. 

 Since the matter of finances has been mentioned, a very sad development of the ordeal must be brought to light.  As has happened in other situations one regrettable financial manipulation has occurred in this sacred crisis.  A self-appointed ‘representative’ by the name of Naim Aksham circulated a letter, graphically depicting the massacre and appealing for funds to support the widows and their children.  Who knows how much money he collected in the U.S.A. !  In actuality, funds for the widows and their families are being administered by the Turkish Union of Protestant Churches who properly handles this important need.  Naim would not accept this arrangement, but capitalized on the sympathy of people everywhere to collect money, which he in turn did not channel to the trusted Association of Turkish Protestants, but apparently used for other purposes.  The gossip-hungry news media made the most of the scandal, reporting that two million dollars (their own assumption) of the solicited funds went into personal use.  This stirred deep consternation among all believers in Turkey .

 Lives of the Martyrs

Nejati Aydın.  Nejati’s home city was Izmir ( Smyrna ), where he grew up in a very conservative Islamic family. His attachment to their religion however was only superficial.  He went to school and was later employed in this city.  One evening in 1994 as he was returning home from work, he climbed onto a bus. On one of the front seats he noticed a young lady reading a book.  The seat next to her was vacant, so he sat down.  He started glancing over to see what she was reading.  The young lady, Shemse Kılçıksız, was of Arab Orthodox background from Antioch , Hatay, in the south of Turkey .  He struck up a conversation with her and asked her what kind of a book it was that had so engrossed her attention.  She replied that the book was about the Christian faith.  Typical of many Muslims, he raised the classic question: “But isn’t the İncil (New Testament) abrogated?”  She replied that no book can be changed when a vast number of people throughout the ages have already possessed and read it. Nejati found her certainty and confidence intriguing. This initial encounter was the beginning of their friendship.  Shemse continued to faithfully witness to him about Jesus Christ. 

Within a year and a half, Nejati came to the point where he committed his life to Christ, believing in him as God’s Son. Soon after, he followed Jesus Christ in the ordinance of baptism, a very crucial step for a Turkish convert.  After his baptism he wrote a touching letter to his family explaining why he believed in Christ as his Savior.  Around this time, he was imprisoned for one month in Izmir for his evangelistic activities.  He was finally cleared as having committed no offense. 

 A while later he was called to military service.  Eventually he was given a few days’ leave.  He had plans for his brief stay in Izmir , and that was to get engaged to his beloved Shemse. Nejati’s fanatic family was enraged and adamantly opposed the relationship.  None of them approved the engagement.  Shemse became an enemy of the family.  Against the backdrop of such disturbing circumstances, several months later the two were married in a simple wedding ceremony.  They were very much in love and attached to each other. Eventually two children were born to them, Elisha and Ester.  Nejati had a growing sense of God’s call on his life and joined the ranks of Turkish believers who dedicated their lives to serve their Savior full-time.  From the very outset, he was a committed and resourceful servant of Jesus Christ, a single-minded disciple.  Recently, a poetry book of Nejati entitled, “My Name is Written in Heaven” (Benim Adım Göklerde Yazılı) has been published by Gerçeğe Doğru Kitapları in Istanbul .  E-mail: gdksiparis@yahoo.com

At the loss of her devoted husband, Shemse said, “God who allowed his dear Son to die a cruel death at the hands of his enemies was pleased to let Nejati offer his life at his enemies’ hands.”  Her earnest prayer and expectation is that one day the murderers will be converted to the Savior.  In the meantime, Nejati’s family persists in unbelief and determined hostility.  Praying Christians who read these lines ought to intercede for the light of Christ to break through the darkness of their hearts and minds.  Paradoxically, prior to his martyrdom, Nejati wrote a general letter to his Turkish fellow-Christians.  This is the essence of its contents: “For years I have been far from my kin in the flesh.  How greatly I value the love and fellowship of my spiritual brothers and sisters.  My challenge to you is to live and labor in close love to the Savior and to each other.”  On the very morning of his murder, he and Shemse read the following in their devotional time: “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith” (I John 5:4).

Tilmann Geske.  Tilmann was one of those single-minded German young people who received Jesus Christ as his Savior and committed his life to serve him.  It will be best to hear Susanne’s words about her husband:  “In 1991 we were in the same church where he was pastor.  As a Bible school graduate I was sent to this church to serve Christ.  The church had a pantomime group in which we both were ́involved.  It wasn’t long before we realized that we had a growing affection for each other and a common goal to serve our Savior in missionary service.  We were married in the middle of 1992.  Before we were married, I had three conditions in my mind regarding my future, the first of which was to serve God in a Muslim land.  Tilmann had the same goal.  After our wedding we went to Istanbul for our honeymoon.  This historic city completely enchanted us.  It wasn’t long until we visited Turkey again.  We applied for missionary work and were accepted.

 In 1997, along with our two children, we landed in Turkey where our destiny was sealed.  The initial six months were given to ministry in Adana (in southern Turkey ).  We didn’t encounter any problem there. (Ed. While we are on the subject of Adana , it will serve us well to go back to 1979 when missionary David Goodman was shot at point blank range as he opened his house door one morning to two unknown visitors. They immediately fled from the scene and were never caught.  It was surmised then that these men were members of the ultranationalist MHP.  For some time, David Goodman had been getting threats.)

 During our time in Adana , we were led to start a new work in Malatya .  The Lord opened doors and the ministry developed over a period of several years. We all were very happy there. It would have never occurred to me that my dear husband would be promoted to martyrdom in this city which we had grown to love.  The devastating news reached me some hours after the murder and the discovery of the three bodies at the Zirve publishing office.  A neighbor who loved us accompanied me and two of our children as we tramped from one hospital to another to try to find my husband.  But he was not to be found in any of the hospitals we searched. At last we came to a hospital not far from our home.  At the outset we were not given any information. But we noticed a number of policemen whispering among themselves.  I was very eager to learn if Tilmann was dead or alive.  Two hours later, I got hold of one policeman from whom I asked straightforward to tell me the truth.  He hesitated for a few moments…  At last, he said, “Yes, your husband is dead, too.” 

 When I finally got home, neighbors started visiting me, trying their best to comfort me.  That day and the following two days they supplied all the food we needed.  I asked the Lord to grant me the strength to forgive.  My prayer was answered, and love for Malatya got hold of me.  Following the massacre I had no word from the Lord that I should leave the city.  Therefore, we will continue living here.  There is still work for us to do here.  My two daughters, – Michal, 14, and Miriam, 9, and my son Lukas, 11, are all in Turkish school.

  Attending some of the court sessions and taking my place on the witness stand was not at all easy, but I sensed the strength and support of my heavenly Father.  The court case is not being carried on fairly.  There is no question in my mind that there are other forces behind this crime.  And I am wondering if the whole truth will ever come out.  I would like to encounter the killers at the end of the trial and openly give them the testimony of Jesus Christ – how he forgives and helps his people to forgive. I want to tell them openly of their need for forgiveness. 

 Uğur Yüksel.  Uğur Yüksel was born in Diyarbakır in 1975.  The city was the hub of Kurdish insurgency.  As he was growing up in the midst of political upheaval, his family decided to move to Elazığ.  But his heart was always in Diyarbakır .  After graduating from lycé́e he could not enter the university immediately.  He did all sorts of odd jobs to earn his living.  At last he was accepted in Kocaeli University in the western part of the country.  This was in the district of the great earthquake in 1999.  Following the earthquake, he moved to a prefabricated house after the place he had been living in was destroyed.  Many questions occupied his mind about disasters such as the earthquake which he had experienced.  He wondered about God’s existence and how he could allow such catastrophes to happen.  For a while, he entertained atheistic notions.  However, he never came to the point of totally denying God.  He gave his time to thinking about peace, love, mercy and helping others.  Being from the Alevi sect, he had heard of these qualities but had not seen them put into practice. 

 At this time, he gave himself to some cursory studies of various religions. Such material is not readily available in Turkey .  He had never read the İncil (New Testament).  He had heard that Christians believe in three gods, and that the İncil was abrogated.  In spite of ambivalent feelings he wanted to find a New Testament and read it.  At last he obtained a copy.  After reading it for a while, he remarked, “At my very first reading I was convinced that the God I was seeking revealed his truth in the New Testament.”  Uğur gave himself more and more to the reading of the İncil.  The passage which influenced him most was the saying of Jesus Christ, “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32 ).  He came to the Savior through this profound declaration of Christ.  He felt that at last he was a free man because he had come face to face with truth.  The God of the New Testament was the One he had been seeking. 

 Now he needed to meet Christians.  Being sure that he would find some in Istanbul he traveled there.  Casually he knocked at the door of a few churches, but found no one to fellowship with.  At last he met a true believer, Hakan Tashtan, who immediately became a genuine support to him. In clear-cut terms Uğur declared himself a follower of Jesus Christ, being totally certain of the validity of the faith he had chosen. After this confession he was baptized.  His faith brought him into a deeper search of God’s word.  The more he read the more he realized that God was taking him into a spiritual battle: first to fight against temptation in his Christian life and then to preach the Gospel in the midst of hostile people.  Regarding his life, he would reflect, “The nearer I draw to the Light, the plainer I see the unworthy areas within my life.”  He was a seeker of holy living and honoring God.

Nejati baptizing Uğur

He returned to Elazığ, wanting to start some business, but he had no money. He chose the line of mobile phone sales.   He was able to obtain a loan from a bank through the assistance of some friends. At this point, he applied to officially change his religious identity from ‘Muslim’ to ‘Christian’.  His application was accepted and he was very happy for his new designation.  But his work did not progress, as is the case of so many small business enterprises in Turkey .  He was on the verge of bankrupcy.  It was a very hard period. He later described it as a time when his heavenly Father was allowing him to be tested, a time of maturing and growing in the faith.  He didn’t revolt, but gave himself to earnest prayer.  However, in the meantime, the interest of his debt was accumulating.  He utilized this time to search answers to the quandaries that were troubling him.  The assurance of God’s mercy and goodness gave him the certainty that his heavenly Father would provide a way out. He had an invitation to go outside the country for a job, but he turned it down.  He was convinced that God wanted him to stay in Turkey and that He would bring the solution to his problems.

 At this time Uğur moved to Malatya and started attending the fellowship.  Nejati with his family were already working in Malatya. A strong bond developed between these two men.  Both of them were were inclined to express their faith in poetry.  Uğur was greatly encouraged with the new relationship.  Following a week of prayer between the two, Uğur accepted the offer to work at Zirve.  He was delighted that he was no longer in secular work. In time, God provided for the payment of all his debts.  Now he was deeply involved in ministering for Christ.  His love for the Savior increased and he enjoyed the fellowship with Christ and his people more and more.  The work at Zirve continued a year and a half.  During this short time, he proved himself a worthy witness and valuable worker for Jesus Christ. He also became engaged to a young Turkish woman who had confessed Christ as her Savior. (Ed. At the time of this writing, she has vanished from the scene, not desiring any contact with Christians.) God in his providence had planned this ministry for Uğur on the way to his promotion to martyrdom.  His usefulness for the kingdom of Christ was exemplary, finally being sealed by giving his life as an offer to the Savior. 

One Year On

A year after the death of the three martyrs, fellow-believers and friends participated in four separate commemorative services ― graveside remembrances in Malatya, Elazığ and Izmir.  The one in Istanbul was a general service for all the men which was open to the public, country-wide.  The Izmir service a week later was observed by Shemse Aydin and her children Elisha, 8, and Ester, 5, where Nejati Aydin had been buried just weeks before his 36^th birthday. The commemoration for Tilmann Geske was held at his graveside in the old Armenian cemetary in Malatya.  His widow Susanne and the three children, along with thirty-five other mourners joined in the solemn celebration of Christ’s victory over death. Pastor İhsan Özbek from Ankara emphasized that Christians do not grieve as those who have no hope, which truth was also expressed in worshipful songs.

 Uğur Yuksel’s quiet memorial service took place in Son, a small village near Elazığ.  On his tombstone was written one of his favorite Psalms: “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you” (73:25). At the foot of his gravestone was written: “He was killed like Jesus.” (Ed. I wonder if this witness is still there.) Pastor Ahmet Güvener of Diyarbakır led the short service of prayer, hymn-singing and Scripture reading.  About twenty of Uğur’s friends and his parents, still Alevis, were present.  People’s identity cards were carefully scrutinized by the local gendarme who stopped each car as the little procession slowly made its way to the cemetery.  That, and the videotaping by Doğan News Agency of the entire service were taken as intrusions of a private ceremony to implicate participants in the Christian service. 

 Zirve, where the three martyrs had been engaged in literature selling and distribution, immediately placed a large, bold-print notice in Sabah , a national daily newspaper. The traditional black-bordered commemoration of the three martyrs’ death read:  “We remember with love and longing the ones mercilessly taken from us a year ago.  In the hope of our faith, we will be together with you again beside our Heavenly Father.  We have not forgotten you.” 

On Sunday, April 20^th, a nationwide memorial service was held in Istanbul .  More than nine-hundred sorrowing Christians from all across Turkey gathered in the St. Esprit Catholic Cathedral for the ninety-minute commemoration of the lives and deaths of the three martyrs.

 Grieving Shemse and children at Istanbul commemoration service  

Shemse Aydin and Susanne Geske sat side-by-side with their five children in the front row of the cathedral.  Local clerics of both Orthodox and Catholic communities, foreign diplomats and several of the lawyers representing them in the murder trial joined them.  Both Shemse Aydin and Susanne Geske briefly related to the large crowd the difficulties they were going through, but also the courage and hope they were daily experiencing through God’s Word and fellow-Christians. “Every day without Nejati this past year has been a bitter cup for me to drink,’ Aydin said. Geske quoted the Turkish words she had requested to be placed on her husband’s tombstone:  “He came to serve the people of Malatya , but the people he came to serve killed him.” As a fifteen-minute collage of photos of their fathers and ‘Uncle Uğur’, along with recordings of their singing and testifying were projected overhead, the grieving children couldn’t hold back their tears.  Among the crowd was another sorrowing widow, Rakel Dink, who joined the commemorative gathering.  Her husband, Hrant Dink, the well-known Armenian journalist had been gunned down in front of his office by an extreme nationalist teen-ager three months earlier.  His death was reported around the world.

 Turkish government officials and the Turkish press had been sent formal invitations to the Istanbul service by the Alliance of Turkish Protestant Churches, who sponsored the memorial gathering. But the English-language Turkish Daily News and the liberal Cumhuriyet were the only newspapers who made mention of the event. 

In his closing address Pastor Zekai Tanyar of Izmir spoke directly to Turkish officials to awaken to the realities taught in Christian Scriptures.  He passionately declared, “Those who sow death cannot reap life; those who sow evil cannot reap goodness. Those who sow curses cannot receive blessing.  I knew Nejati, Uğur and Tilmann, and especially Nejati very well,” Tanyar said.  “I laugh bitterly to hear the unscrupulous lies told about them. The only crime by three brothers committed was believing in God, following Jesus and telling people about God’s message of love and hope for them.” Tanyar spoke against the common mindset that to be Turkish is to be Muslim.  “Give permission for my faith, and let the Creator be the judge!” Tanyar pled.  “My heart loves my country and my Lord, and no slander, anti-propaganda, pressure or politicians can change that!”

 At the close of the solemn and moving ceremony numerous participants made their way to the front to place long-stemmed red roses and flickering candles at the altar.

 A special edition of the Christian magazine Gerçeğe Doğru (Toward the Truth) dedicated to the Malatya martyrs was distributed in the cathedral courtyard, along with the newly-published book of Nejati Aydin’s poetry, My Name is written in Heaven.

The Murder in Gaza

Whether coincidental or conspirational, six months after the killings in Malatya another gallant and effective servant of Christ, Rami Ayyad, 26, became a martyr for his Lord in Gaza .  Rami Ayyad of the Gaza Bible Society bookstore, ‘The Teacher’s Bookshop’, was kidnapped and brutally murdered.  Ayyad, along with being front face for the Bible Society in Gaza , was also active in the Baptist Church , helping with the Awana club and directing the summer children’s camps.  He was married to Pauline. They had two young children, with his wife imminently expecting their third child. 

 When Rami Ayyad heard about the murders in Malatya , he felt deeply grieved and expressed his sorrow for the widows.  At that time he remarked that for a Christian, being martyred was the best way to die, and added that if the time came for him to go, he wouldn’t hesitate to lay down his life for Christ.  A day before his kidnapping, October 5, 2007 , Ayyad noticed a car without license plates following him. On October 6, he had just closed the bookshop at about 6 P.M. when he was kidnapped. He called his wife, saying that he had been taken away and would return home in about two hours. But he added that if he didn’t show up then he wouldn’t be coming back for a long, long time.  At 6:25 on Sunday morning, October 7, his mutilated body was found outside the Bible Society bookstore where he had so devotedly served.  Many stab and bullet wounds were clearly evident, his head also having sustained severe injury.  Before the murder he had received numerous death threats and was always aware that his life was in danger.  At the discovery of his dead body, the whole Gazan Christian community of about 4,000 people was thrown into deep sorrow and shock. 

 On April 15, 2007 , a bomb destroyed the downstairs store front of the bookshop.  Before that, on February 3, 2006 , local militants detonated two small pipe bombs, destroying the store’s doors.  At that time the employees of the Bible Society found a communiqué demanding that the shop be closed immediately.  This bore the signature of the secretive ‘Sword of Islam’.  Rami Ayyad was the gentlest member of the Bible Society, always smiling, and serving all who came into the shop as Jesus would have done.  The Interior Minister of Hamas said that the crime would not go unpunished.  But nothing has been done to solve it.  Besides operating the bookstore, the Bible Society also offered computer courses to the 1.4 million Gazans, most of whom are unemployed.  They were also involved in providing food and clothing for the many refugees.  Before the murder, many of Gaza ’s citizens actually demonstrated in appreciation of the Bible Society’s services, demanding that their presence in Gaza City continue.  However, this was not to be.  The Bible Society bookstore was ultimately closed, leaving this large city without the provision of Scriptures and many social services. 

 Rami Ayyad’s death marked another promotion to glory of one of God’s faithful servants.  Every day others are following in the train of Rami and those killed in Malatya .

“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those

who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.

They cried out with a loud voice, ‘O Sovereign Lord, holy and true,

how long before thou wilt judge and avenge our blood on those

who dwell upon the earth?’

Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer,

until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren should be complete,

who were to be killed as they themselves had been.”

(Revelation 6:9-11)

Thomas Cosmades – 2008