Court convicts seven for Turkish honour killing massacre

Apr 26, 2010, 15:27 GMT

Istanbul - A Turkish court Monday sentenced to life seven men for their role in a 2009 honour killing massacre that resulted in the death of 44 members of a village in southeast Turkey.

The May, 2009 massacre took place in Bilge, a village that sits on a small hilltop about 20 kilometers from the city of Mardin. The killings took place during an engagement ceremony in a house in the village, which the attackers sprayed with machine gun fire.

According to locals, a decades' long dispute existed between the attackers' family and the family of the would-be groom.

Turkish media reported that the masked attackers had wanted the bride-to-be to marry a man from their own group of friends or relatives, but that her family would not allow it.

The bride, Sevgi Celebi, the groom, Habib Ari, his mother and sister were among those killed, as was the imam who was presiding over the engagement at time of the attack.

Honour killings and blood feuds are not uncommon in southeast Turkey, but the scope of the killing in Bilge left the country shocked.

Many remaining residents of the village were ultimately relocated by Turkish officials to other parts of the country.