DUSSELDORF, Germany – Mehmet Sukaya, a Kurdish imam, has admitted to killing his wife in Germany. But he may be tried in his native Turkey, where he fled with his three children after the crime.
Turkish law does not allow the extradition of its citizens to any country for trial, so German police have asked Turkish authorities to try Sukaya, 32, for the murder of his wife, Yusra.
Following a tip-off on March 9, Dusseldorf police broke into Sukaya’s house, where they found his wife’s body. Police said she had been strangled.
Hours after the murder, the imam bought plane tickets for himself and his three children and flew to Istanbul, where his family became suspicious of his sudden return without his wife.
Soon after, Sukaya confessed his crime to the family, who immediately called Sukaya’s sister in Germany and she informed German police.
The same day, Sukaya handed himself to police in Turkey, where he is currently in detention.
Dusseldorf public prosecutor Matthias Ridder told the media that they cannot have Sukaya extradited to Germany, and that he has asked the Turkish government to try him for the crime.
German authorities also maintained that Sukaya’s three children are in good condition, in the care of their grandmother in Istanbul.
Sukaya and his wife were first cousins from the city of Mus in Turkey. According to their relatives, the couple had a turbulent marriage.
One of Sukaya’s relatives said that two years ago Sukaya had stabbed his wife and she had reported the case to police, who put the husband under a restraining order for several months. Later, under family pressure, Yusra dropped her charges and asked to be reunited with her husband.
The imam is from a religious family and was member of local Islamic organizations in Germany. In 2012, he released an album of Koranic recitations titled “Noah and Mount Jodi”
