Suspect in assaults case on Armenian women in Samatya arrested

ISTANBUL

The blood on an envelope found in Maritsa Küçük’s bag belongs to suspect Murat N (inset). Küçük was killed at home in Samatya in December 2012. DHA Photo

A Turkish court decided the arrest of a 38-year-old man with charges of “intended murder,” Doğan news agency has reported. M.N. detained in Istanbul’s Fatih district on assault charges in connection with recent attacks on elderly Armenian women in Istanbul’s Samatya neighborhood.

The suspect, identified as M.N., is a Turkish citizen of Armenian origin and was detained as a suspect in five attacks, one of which resulted in death. The suspect lives alone and allegedly committed the assaults for theft, according to unnamed sources.

M.N. was detained by the police on March 2 after one of the victims identified him. A judge in an Istanbul court decided the arrest of the suspect who was set to send to Metris prison later.

Blood on envelope

On Dec. 28, 2012, Maritsa Küçük was stabbed seven times before her throat was slit at her home in Samatya. Two other attacks were carried out in the same month against elderly Armenian women in the Samatya and Bakırköy districts as well.

One of the women, 87-year-old Turfanda Aşık, lost an eye, while the other woman was robbed and severely injured.

Most recently, 84-year-old Sultan Akyar was attacked in Samatya, after which she underwent eye surgery. The blood on an envelope found in Maritsa Küçük’s bag belongs to M.N., the agency said, adding that the women who survived the attacks in Samatya identified M.N. as the assailant.

However, the evidence found in the attack against Vehbiye Ö., 80, who was severely wounded in the Şişli district of Istanbul, did not match with suspect M.N., the agency said. Police are continuing their investigation to find the Şişli suspect.

After the suspect’s blood samples matched the blood found in Maritsa Küçük’s bag, he was questioned again. In his second questioning, he gave a detailed testimony about the incidents, according to the daily. M.N., detained twice before for theft, previously worked at tea houses as a cleaner but had been unemployed for some time.

The police are conducting a very detailed investigation to find the attacker in the Samatya district. Police discovered that M.N. had been stalking his victims long before carrying out the attacks.