Martyrs in Turkey

The country currently campaigning for admittance to the European Union has a problem. The Turkish government in Ankara has just announced the arrests of five young men, students all living in the same housing complex, in the city of Malatya. They have been accused of murder in the deaths of one German and two Turks, who were found tied with their throats slit. The German, Tilman Ekkehart Geske, owned a publishing house where he printed, in addition to other texts, Christian Bibles. The Turks had converted to Christianity. When the suspects were detained, all five were bearing notes with vows of martyrdom. The story is here: http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Apr18/0,4670,TurkeyBibleAttack,00.html
This is the second brutal murder in Malatya this year of a victim whose only offense was publishing Bibles. Last year, a teenager shot a Roman Catholic priest in Malatya. Another Turkish nationalist murdered Hrant Dink, an Armenian Christian publisher, earlier this year. Several Turks marched to protest Dink's murder, and 100,000 people attended his funeral, but a mere 150 people protested this latest attrocity, holding candles and carrying a banner in Istanbul. The Turkish government has a difficult case on its hands. They will prosecute these murderers, but the consequences may be far-reaching. The Quran states in no uncertain terms that the penalty for conversion to another religion is death, as is the penalty for persuading a Muslim to convert. If the Prophet is the highest authority, the actions of the murderers were justified. This case will bear watching, as Turkey's stance as a secular nation is tested.
This story is brought to you from the United States, where we have proudly called a chopping tool an "ax" for two hundred years. Out with the British.