Three people were tied up and had their throats slit in a Bible publishing house in Turkey today.

One of the murdered men was a German national, one was Turkish and the identity of the third has not been confirmed. All three were in the office of a publisher that distributes Bibles and prints other Christian literature when they were set upon.

The Zirve publishing office in Malatya city, in central Turkey, had been the target of anti-religious protests and death threats.

Nationalist protestors accused staff of proselytizing in the 99 per cent Muslim, but officially secular, country, according to the Dogan Turkish news agency.

Suna Erdem of The Times suggested the attacks were most likely to have been carried out by nationalists in the tension ahead of next month’s presidential elections.

“Hostility against Turkish Christians tends to come from nationalists as much as Islamists, but the way they were killed is unusual,” she said. “Nationalists tend to be worried that Christians are part of some conspiracy against Turkey.”

German Ambassador Eckart Cuntz was appalled by the attack. “I am shocked that a German citizen is among the victims,” he said. “Even if the exact circumstances of the crime are not yet known, I most strongly condemn this brutal crime.”

Turkish television broadcast footage of the police wrestling one suspect to the ground and leading away three more after the attack.

Hamza Ozant, Zirve’s manager, confirmed that staff had received death threats, but said he was unaware of the source.

A fourth man is in hospital receiving treatment for head injuries after jumping from the window of the building. Police are investigating whether the man was escaping the attackers or if he was one of the assailants attempting to evade the police.

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