06 February 2006
Catholic Priest Shot, Killed at Church in Turkey
ANKARA, Turkey — A teenage boy shot and killed the Italian Roman Catholic priest of a church in the Black Sea port city of Trabzon on Sunday, shouting "God is great" as he escaped, according to police and witnesses
Officers were searching for the boy aged around 14 or 15, according to a police official who declined to be identified because of rules that bar Turkish civil servants from speaking to journalists without prior authorization.
The police official would not say if the attack might be linked to the printing in European newspapers of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, which has caused anger in Muslim countries. Earlier Sunday, hundreds of Turks protested in Istanbul against the cartoons.
"Whether the killing is linked to the caricatures will emerge when the culprit has been caught," Trabzon's Gov. Huseyin Yavuzdemir said.
The priest, 60-year-old Andrea Santoro, was shot hours after Mass at Santa Maria Church.
A woman who answered the telephone at the church said the priest was inside when he was attacked, and prosecutor Burhan Cobanoglu said he was shot twice from behind, with bullets ripping through his heart and liver
Pope Benedict XVI's envoy in Turkey, Monsignor Antonio Lucibello, said he had spoken by telephone with a witness who said she saw the attacker fleeing and "heard the young man shout 'Allah Akbar' (God is Great)."'
Lucibello declined to speculate on the motive for the killing, but said there were "no elements" to link the attack with the protests over the newspaper cartoons.
Turkey's government denounced the attack.
"We condemn with hatred the fact that the murder was committed in a house of worship against a man of religion," said Justice Minister Cemil Cicek
POST BY FOXNEWS
08:05 Posted in TURKEY | Permalink | Comments (4) | 
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2 churches have been burnt down in turkey.
The Primeminister of Turkey Recep Tayyib Erdogan: No One Has The Right To Attack My Prophet, Muhammad
Posted by: AD | 06 February 2006
what the 2 chruches did to you. you know what they doing in the chruch pray for me and one like you ,they dont print a newpapers>>>
Posted by: zak | 06 February 2006
Islamic hatred will never end until WE bring back the inquisition on a global level against all Muslims. These are not good people; they are the work of the devil and reincarnated demons. Death to all Muslims should be our duty as good Christians, death to their non-prophet, long live the name of Jesus. Kill all Muslims.
Posted by: (JC) | 08 February 2006
Two wrongs don't make a right. Muslims, unfortunately, thrive on the senseless murder of innocent people. Did that priest write the article? Shame.
Posted by: Andrea | 08 February 2006
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