Ahmet Yildiz (pictured), the gay Turkish physics student, was gunned down outside his apartment in Istanbul in what’s believed to be the country’s first honor killing. The suspect? His own father, who prosecutors allege traveled over 500 miles to hunt him down. “The young physics student, Ahmet Yildiz, was one of the few openly gay men in Turkey, a country in which the military, the guardian of Turkey’s secular state, regards homosexuality as a disorder. Yildiz represented his country at a gay meeting in San Francisco and wrote for gay publications in Turkey. Observers believe his activism is probably what got him killed. His boyfriend, Ibrahim Can, was in their shared apartment when Yildiz was murdered. He wanted to go out and buy some ice cream, he went down and just got into his car and I heard gunshots, he says. I looked down from the window I saw him being ambushed. He says he ran outside and screamed ‘Please do not die.’ Can said his eyes were closed, when I shouted he opened for a second, he looked at me and then closed his eyes. Can says before the shooting, Yildiz had repeatedly filed complaints at the local prosecutor’s office that he was receiving death threats from his family. Gay rights groups claim the prosecutor’s office did not investigate or provide Yildiz with protection.” An online memorial blog has been set up here. [VOA News]