Murat Nazaryan Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for the Murder of Armenian Women in Istanbul

The Istanbul 13th Court for Serious Crimes issued the verdict on the murder of Armenian elderly woman Maritsa Küçük. Murat Nazaryan, the only suspect, is sentenced to life imprisonment. “Cihan” agency informs about this.

In his last speech at the court Murat Nazaryan once again announced that he is not to blame. “I have not quarreled with anyone up till now. Now I am accused of such a crime. I have not committed the crime which I am accused of. I demand to release me”, Nazaryan mentioned.

Immediately after the court session Maritsa Küçük’s daughter Bayzar Midill expressed her discontent over the verdict, stating that the crime has not been thoroughly revealed.

After the announcement of the court decision the lawyer of the Küçük family Eren Keskin also expressed an opinion that the real criminals have not been exposed. “The suspect was intimidated, for which he kept silent. There are other suspects of this crime which had been proved by the DNA test”, Keskin said, adding that they will continue their activities in this regard.

Murat Nazaryan, arrested for murdering 84-year old ethnic-Armenian Maritsa Küçük and attacking other old Armenian women in Samatya District of Istanbul, was not acting alone. There was a female accomplice involved in the attacks as well. As reports “Armenpress” citing Istanbul-based Agos periodical, the law enforcement authorities engaged in the investigation stated this and noted that another woman’s DNA was found in Maritsa Küçük’s house. One of the women, 87-year-old Turfanda Aşık, lost an eye, while the other woman was robbed and severely injured. On December 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. Most recently, 83-year-old Sultan Akyar was attacked in Samatya, after which she underwent eye surger y. The blood on an envelope found in Maritsa Küçük’s bag belongs to Murat Nazaryan. Murat Nazaryan detained twice before for theft, previously worked at tea houses as a cleaner but had been unemployed for some time.

Murat Nazaryan had told earlier in the court that three armed men took him to Maritsa Küçük’s house and began stabbing her.