A strange murder in Turkey

[SOncu@xxxxxxx]

Turkish Tycoon Stabbed to Death

By BURAK BAKTIR
The Associated Press


ISTANBUL, Turkey, Aug 25, 2001 (AP) - The chairman of one of Turkey's largest
business holdings and a prominent member of its Jewish community was found
stabbed to death Saturday, police said.

A suspect apprehended a few hours later confessed to the killing of
72-year-old Uzeyir Garih, police said. The suspect's name was not released,
but local media quoted police sources as saying that he was a mentally
disturbed Turkish youth and a drug addict.

Garih headed the ALARKO group, a heating, ventilating and air conditioning
company that also does construction in Turkey and central Asia. The group
also is involved in tourism and seafood, and has joint ventures in England,
Russia, Switzerland and Austria.

He also wrote a column for the English-language Turkish Daily News in which
he supported Turkey's expanding relations with Israel and Ankara's bid to
join the European Union.

Cemetery officials found Garih's body near the grave of Marshal Fevzi Cakmak,
an independence war hero who fought invading British, French and Greek forces
in the 1920s.

Garih had left his office around noon Saturday after meeting with Bulgaria's
Deputy Premier Nikolay Vassilev, said Seyit Mehmet Buruk, a spokesman for
ALARKO.

He was found stabbed several times about two hours later, private NTV
television reported. His Mercedes was parked outside the Muslim cemetery.

``His assassination stunned us,'' the Anatolia news agency quoted Vassilev as
saying at a news conference. ``We had our picture taken together. But I could
not imagine that (his life) would have been over a few hours later.''

Cash and credit cards were found in his wallet, an unconfirmed news report
said.

Cemetery officials said Garih had been paying frequent visits to the Istanbul
cemetery. Interior Minister Rustu Kazim Yucelen said Garih was visiting the
grave of someone who had helped him in the past.

In his last column, which was to be published Sunday, Garih addressed the
need to restore political confidence to overcome a crippling financial crisis
that has halved the Turkish lira's value since February.

``Trust in the government must be restored,'' private CNN-Turk television
quoted Garih as writing.

Garih was married with two children.