A father stands accused of shooting and killing his son in what could be Turkey's first gay honour killing, this week.
It's alleged that Ahmet Yildiz (pictured) was murdered for bringing dishonour to his Muslim family and that father Yahya Yildiz shot his son after he left a café near the Bosphorus Strait on 15 July, 2008.
During the first day of the trial, the prosecution said the family
had not accepted their son’s sexuality, pressured him to seek a cure
and threatened him when he refused.
It was also presented that his father
had hired a car which witnesses saw at the scene of the crime.
Ahmet’s Yildiz’s partner, Ibrahim Can, told reporters that Ahmet had reported his families’ death threats to the police in October 2007. “If the authorities had taken our complaints seriously, then he would still be alive,” he said, adding, “My expectations for the trial are minimal.”
The Independent newspaper labeled Ahmet “Turkey’s gay poster boy” after he represented his country at an international LGBT rights conference, held in San Francisco, in 2007. The 26-year-old student was training to become a Physics teacher.
The victims of the ‘honour killing’ tradition are typically women and
Ahmet’s death is the first recorded case of a man being honour-killed
because he is gay.
The case continues.