Turkish-'Armenian' kills sister and brother-in-law in Istanbul

A disagreement between a Christian and a Muslim family over their children's marriage has ended in tragedy in Istanbul.

According to Turkish daily Milliyet, the incident took place in Istanbul's Fatieh district on Sunday as the police found the young couple shot dead in their car.

It has turned out that Zekeryia Vural, 29, and Sonai Vural, 26, had married just 10 days before they were killed.

Gyunai O., the bride's elder brother, was taken to the police station as a suspect and has already confessed to the crime.

"We were against that marriage. We met at a café yesterday so that to speak [over the issue]," said he.

"Zekeryia said that everything is over and that I must not interfere in their affairs. My sister said the same. When we left the café and got in the car, I killed them," Gyunai O. told the police.

According to Turkish media reports, the argument between the two families has a history. The bride's family was against that marriage from the very beginning as the groom was a Muslim.

Most of the Turkish media outlets reported that the bride was an Assyrian, who generally are Christians.

But citing Jemil Vural, the uncle of the killed bridegroom, the Turkish news agency Cihan reported that the bride comes from an Armenian family.

"The girls' family was against that marriage because our son was a Muslim ... The youngsters loved each other very much. The girl had even said she would commit suicide should her parents not allow her to marry him," Jemil Vural told Cihan.

"Religion shouldn't have been a hindrance for their marriage," he added.

A relative of the groom, in turn, told the source that Zekeryia had decided to change his religion and adopt Christianity for the marriage to take place.

But following some remarks from the girl's family they had fled and got married in secret.