Turkish man tried in absentia for ‘honour killing’ of gay son
A Turkish man accused of killing his gay son has gone on trial this week in Istanbul.
Yahya Yildiz, 49, is on the run and is being tried in absentia for the crime of shooting his son Ahmet, 26, dead in June last year. Another man, thought to be a local resident, was also injured, reports news agency Sapa-dpa.
He allegedly shot his son, after he revealed he was having a relationship with a man from Cologne, Germany.
Ahmet, who was training to be a physics teacher, had come out to his family but they were unhappy about his sexuality, the prosecution said.
According to the prosecution, Yildiz had hired a car for the day of the killing, which was seen at a cafe on the Bosphorus strait where the killing took place. His mobile phone records placed him in the same area.
Ahmet’s German-Turkish boyfriend, Ibrahim Can, has said that other people must have helped with the murder and they too should be prosecuted.
In July 2008, speaking exclusively to PinkNews.co.uk, he said: “Ahmet had been receiving threats for as long as I knew him. He told me this has been going on since his coming out a year ago.
“When he came out to his parents, who had always suspected, they made him feel guilty about it.”
Can believes there is little chance of justice being reached in the case, saying homophobia in Turkey is “unbelievably bad”.
