A father accused of murdering his gay son in what has been termed in the media as an "honour killing" was tried in absentia at the Üsküdar Courthouse in Istanbul yesterday.
Ahmet Yildiz (left) and his German-Turkish boyfriend Ibrahim Can.
According to Bianet, an independent Turkish news network, Yahya Yildiz, 49 - who is on the run and is being tried in absentia - is accused of shooting his 26-year-old son Ahmet in June 2008 after the latter told him about his relationship with a man from Cologne in Germany.
Ahmet Yıldız, a student at the Department of Physics at Marmara University, was shot dead in Üsküdar (a district of Istanbul on the Anatolian side) on 15 July 2008.
The victim’s father is also charged with buying unlicensed firearms with ammunition, carrying and possessing them, premeditatedly killing of people and injuring close relatives.
Bianet quoted the victim’s German-Turkish boyfriend, Ibrahim Can, as saying that prior to the incident, the victim had mentioned that members of his family might kill him because of his homosexuality.
“One year before Yıldız had told his family that he was gay. He had been threatened by his father and other family members.”
The second hearing of the case is scheduled for 23 December.