Ankara - Turkish police on Thursday confirmed they were searching for a 29-year-old man suspected of having fled to Turkey after carrying out the murder last month of a nine-year-old girl in western Germany, according to Turkish media.

Police in the western Turkey town of Aydin said they were searching for the man identified on Wednesday by German police as Turkish national Ali K whose father lives in the city.

On Wednesday, police commander Juergen Heinz says the man's business card was found near the girl's body near a lake outside of the city of Paderborn. Police said that DNA found in his home matched evidence from the crime scene.

The girl has been identified as Kardelen Kirac, of Turkish heritage. She lived in the same building as Ali K. and disappeared on January 12. Her naked body was found two days later. Police say she had been sexually assaulted.

Turkish newspapers have closely followed the murder and coverage of the girl's funeral in the Black Sea coastal town of Ordu was extensive and on Thursday newspapers carried large photographs of the suspect. (dpa)