Officials: Murder of bishop in Turkey not political (Roundup)

Jun 3, 2010, 15:32 GMT

Istanbul - Turkish officials have said that the murder Thursday of a Catholic bishop in southern Turkey, allegedly by his driver, was not politically motivated.

Bishop Luigi Padovese, the Vicar Apostolic for the Anatolia region, was found dead in his summer home in the city of Iskendrun, in the Hatay region on Turkey's Mediterranean coast.

'According to the preliminary reports, the murder did not have a

political motive. It was revealed that the suspect had been receiving treatment for psychological disorders,' provincial governor Mehmet Celalettin Lekesiz said. 'A full investigation is underway.'

Padovese took up his post in Iskenderun in November 2004.

The Hatay region is home to an ancient, but dwindling, community of Christians who have lived in the area since Roman times.

In recent years, nationalist extremists in Turkey on several occasions have attacked or kidnapped Christian clergymen in the country.

Iskendrun had been the scene of another attack Monday, when a naval base was targeted by rocket fire, resulting in the death of six sailors. Kurdish guerillas are suspected of being behind that act.