Enlarge imageANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish authorities charged a 16-year-old boy on Thursday with the murder of an Italian Catholic priest in a shooting that shocked this Muslim nation.
Father Andrea Santoro, 61, was shot dead while praying in his church in the Black Sea city of Trabzon last Sunday. Police arrested the teenager on Tuesday and Turkish media said he had confessed to the crime.
"The suspect was charged under article 81 of the penal code with deliberately killing a person," the state Anatolian news agency said.
Anatolian said the boy had exercised his right to remain silent during a 90-minute court hearing before being transferred to a jail pending his trial.
Under Turkish law, the suspect will be tried as a juvenile and is expected to receive a reduced prison sentence.
Advertisement starts
Advertisement ends
Turkey’s government strongly condemned the shooting, which coincided with increased religious tensions worldwide following the publication of cartoons lampooning Islam’s Prophet Mohammad in a number of European newspapers.
Turkish media have quoted the suspect as saying he shot Santoro after being influenced by the protests against the cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad.
Eyewitnesses say he shouted "Allahu Akbar" (Arabic for "God is greatest") before shooting the priest.
Pope Benedict, who on Thursday accepted an invitation to visit Turkey in November, has expressed his sorrow at the killing and said he hoped it would help promote better understanding between Christianity and Islam.
The Vatican revealed on Wednesday that Santoro had written a letter to the Pope shortly before his death inviting the Pontiff to visit his tiny church when he comes to Turkey.
The vast majority of Turkey’s 72 million people are Muslims and its Christian population numbers barely 60,000.
On Thursday, Turkish newspapers quoted the suspect’s brother as saying the boy may have fallen under the influence of a militant Islamist group opposed to Christian missionaries while frequenting a local Internet cafe.
Turkish media also quoted the boy’s father as saying his son had recently been receiving psychiatric help but that he had been a well-behaved child who worked hard at school.
NTV commercial television said the gun used to kill Santoro -- reported to be a sophisticated weapon -- belonged to the suspect’s brother.
