The reports which appeared in some of the news on 14 December 2007 in relation to the murder of three employees of the Zirve Publishing House in Malatya last April, alleging that upon the complaints of certain religious bodies to the effect that the freedom of religion does not exist in Turkey the United Nations has taken up the matter and is following it closely, do not reflect the truth.

There are special mechanisms functioning in the field of human rights within the framework of the UN Human Rights Council. It is a common practice that within the framework of special mechanisms, special rapporteurs request member states to provide information in relation to incidents falling within the scope of their mandates in the field of human rights, and all UN member states are required to cooperate with the special mechanisms.

In the aftermath of the tragic incident on 18 April 2007, the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Conscience and the Special Rapporteur on the Freedom Of Thought and Expression sent a letter on 27 April 2007, and according to standard procedure requested information within 60 days on the incident and legal proceedings initiated in this regard. The said request was transmitted to the relevant Turkish authorities in line with existing practices, and the information received from them was communicated to the Special Rapporteurs within the indicated time frame. Since then, no further development has taken place within the UN framework on this matter.