'You can't marry my daughter': Two Northern Irish women stabbed to death in Turkey over 'marriage row'

-Women named as Marion Elizabeth Graham and Kathy Dinsmore, both 54
-17-year-old arrested over the double killing in 'row over marriage'

By Anna Edwards


Two women from Northern Ireland have been murdered in a forest in Turkey.

A 17-year-old Turkish teenager, named locally as Recep Celik, is said to have carried out the attack near Izmir after a row over marriage.

The women have been named by the Irish government as Marion Elizabeth Graham and Kathy Dinsmore, both 54.

The alarm was raised by Mrs Graham's daughter Shannon, 15, after the women, both believed to be from Newry, County Down, failed to return home from their trip earlier this week.

Suspect: Suspect Recep Celik, left, is accused of killing the mother of his girlfriend Shannon Graham, pictured, in a frenzied attack

Recep Celik is accused of stabbing Marion Graham (left) and Kathy Dinsmore, both 54 and from Northern Ireland

A Turkish news agency claims the girl's teenage boyfriend stabbed the women in a frenzied attack because he was not allowed to marry Shannon.

Other reports suggest that the reason behind the attack is that the Irish pair were trying to protect Mr Graham's 15-year-old daughter from an abusive boyfriend.

They are said to have objected to the treatment of Marion's daughter Shannon at the hands of her Recep Celik.

The two middle-aged women were in the Buca neighbourhood of Izmir - known locally a crime hotspot - when the attack took place.

Local sources say Marion, from County Down in Northern Ireland, spends her summers in Turkey, where she is married to a Kurdish man.

It is believed that Shannon fell in with a bad crowd during her summer trip and was suffering abuse at the hands of her boyfriend.

Turkish police questioned the girl's boyfriend who initially denied any involvement with their disappearance.

But following a search of their estate blood-stained clothing was reportedly discovered in a bin.

Local media claims that when confronted with the clothing Recep admitted his involvement.

Turkish media claim the waiter hired a taxi in the resort of Kusadasi to take him and the middle-aged women from to the city of Izmir around 62 miles (100 kilometers) away to meet his father.

He is then allegedly to have confessed taking the two women in his father's car to a quiet woodland area of the regional capital Izmir, where he stabbed them both to death.

It was not clear if the women met the father.

Search: Emergency crews scour the woods where the two women were discovered for evidence after the brutal killings

Frenzied attack: Officials remove the bodies of two women who have were stabbed to death in Turkey.

Mrs Graham's home in Newry, Co Down, after she and Kathy Dinsmore were stabbed to death in Turkey

The youth is reported to have been arrested and is being questioned by police.

Police in Izmir confirmed that a suspect had been detained, but refused further information.

The news agency said the boy's father and the taxi driver were also detained for questioning.

The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs said the women are from County Down in Northern Ireland. It is said one of the women owned property in Kusadasi.

It is understood one of the women owns a property in the Kusadasi area and the pair, who were travelling on Irish passports, were visiting Izmir when they were attacked.

Irish diplomats are liaising with relatives of the two women and another has been dispatched from Ankara to Izmir to liaise with Turkish police.

A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin confirmed consular staff are trying to track down family members.

'We are providing consular assistance through the embassy in Ankara,' the spokesman said.

South Down MP Margaret Ritchie said she was shocked by the deaths and offered her sympathy to the bereaved families.

'My thoughts are with those involved in this terrible incident,' she said.

'And also with their families, who never got the chance to say goodbye to their loved ones.

'I think all the people of South Down will be saddened by this news.'

A local hotelier from Kusadasi has also travelled to the city to be with daughter of one of the dead women.

The area is visited by thousands of Irish and British holidaymakers every summer.

It is believed that a 17-year-old has confessed to attacking the two middle-aged women in Izmir, Turkey, pictured


source:dailymail