Hrant Dink murder case deepens with new testimonies

December 9, 2014 By administrator

Ayşegül Usta ISTANBUL

The list of suspects in the murder case of Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist killed in 2007 in Istanbul, has been broadened, with the court listening to more high-ranking officials amid a move to merge the case of the convicted shooter with that of the alleged instigators.

Ergun Güngör, the Istanbul deputy governor at the time, testified on Dec. 9 at an Istanbul court as a suspect accused of negligence.

A day earlier, Ahmet İlhan Güler, the then-chief of police intelligence, testified. The then-Trabzon police chief Reşat Altay has also been called to testify, while former Istanbul police chief Celalettin Cerrah, along with seven others, are expected to appear in court soon.

A Bakırköy district court in Istanbul canceled the dismissal of charges against officials on June 6, handing the case to the Istanbul chief public prosecutor’s office.

Another court decision ruled to combine convicted assailant Ogün Samast’s case at the juvenile court with a case at the fifth high criminal court, in which Yusuf Hayal and Erhan Tuncel are accused of convincing Samast in the Black Sea province of Trabzon to shoot Dink in Istanbul.

“I will speak up,” Samast, who was 17 years old when he shot Dink in front of the latter’s office on Jan. 19, 2007, was quoted as saying in daily Taraf late last month. His words came in a letter sent to the prosecutor in charge of the investigation.

Civil servants and institutions allegedly implicated in the murder of Dink should be investigated, the Constitutional Court stated in a detailed ruling on the case on Nov. 12.

December/09/2014

Turkey, Ex-intel chief confirms mass tapping after giving testimony on Hrant Dink murder

December 4, 2014 By administrator

Ali Fuat Yılmazer has been under arrest since July 23.

Ali Fuat Yılmazer, a former Istanbul police intelligence chief who has been under arrest since July 23 as part of an illegal wiretapping case, confirmed in a Dec. 4 statement released by his lawyer that some 160 high-profile people were wiretapped between 2008 and 2009.

Daily Hürriyet had report edthat 160 individuals, including top businesspeople such as Doğuş Holding’s Ferit Şahenk, Hürriyet Chairwoman Vuslat Doğan Sabancı, Koç Holding’s Ali Koç, and Çukurova Holding’s Mehmet Emin Karamehmet, along with former top soldiers and journalists, were wiretapped under fake names in 2008 and 2009.

“The wiretappings were done as part of the law. What’s criminal here is revealing the intelligence wiretappings,” Hüseyin Ataol added.

An inquiry, which has been ongoing for the past two-and-a-half months, revealed that the wiretapping of 160 people was justified by adding their names to a list of “members of a terrorist or criminal organization,” under the dossier “intelligence wiretapping.”

Yılmazer was among the 32 intelligence officers detained in Istanbul in anti-terror operations launched in 15 provinces on July 23.

His remarks came after he was brought to the courthouse to give his testimony in the ongoing case into the 2007 killing of Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink.

December/04/2014

Turkey, Report: Dink’s assailant says ready to break silence

November 25, 2014 By administrator

ANKARA

Hrant Dink was shot dead by Ogün Samast in broad daylight on a busy street outside the offices of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, in central Istanbul on Jan. 19, 2007

“I will speak up,” assailant Ogün Samast, who was only 17 years old when he shot Dink in front of his office in Istanbul on Jan. 19, 2007, was quoted in daily Taraf as stating in a letter sent to the prosecutor in charge of the investigation.

Samast, who is jailed in the high-security F-type prison in Kandıra, Kocaeli, said in his letter that he wanted to give a new testimony, Taraf reported Nov. 25.

In a statement delivered two years ago, Samast explained that the murder was committed in line with a “three-stage plan,” Taraf reported.

“There is a matter which I haven’t so far explained anywhere, including before the court. I met a person three months before the murder … I will explain who this person is and his relation with the Dink murder,” Samast was quoted as saying at the time.

Dink was assassinated by Samast in broad daylight on a busy street outside the offices of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos in the city’s Şişli district. The assassination caused outrage across the country, sending hundreds of the thousands to the streets in mass rallies.

Samast was sentenced to 22 years by a children’s court for the murder, but lawyers representing the Dink family have repeatedly expressed their dismay over the lack of investigation regarding individuals or groups who allegedly commissioned the murder.

In late October, the trial took a significant turn after the court in Istanbul overseeing the case announced that it would focus on the “criminal organization” allegations against suspects, a move that lawyers representing the victim’s family had demanded since the start of the retrial.

Accordingly, Samast is also likely to be tried on new charges, as the court ruled to associate his case with the main murder trial.

In early November, the Constitutional Court said civil servants and institutions allegedly implicated in the murder should be investigated.

Former Istanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah was supposed to testify to the prosecutor in charge upon the top court’s decision. However, Cerrah met the prosecutor and notified him of “his excuse” for the postponement of his testimony, Taraf also reported, adding that Cerrah wants to be accompanied by his lawyer, who is currently abroad, during the testimony.

November/25/2014

Turkey: Dink murder trial takes new turn as court to focus on ‘criminal organization’ claims

October 30, 2014 By administrator

ISTANBUL

The Friends of Hrant Dink Association issued a public statement in front of Istanbul’s Çağlayan courthouse on Oct. 30. AA Photo

The trial into the murder of the Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink has taken a significant turn after the court in Istanbul overseeing the case announced that it will focus on the “criminal organization” allegations against suspects, a move that lawyers representing the victim’s family had demanded since the start of the retrial. Report Hurriyet

Istanbul’s 5th High Criminal Court ruled on Oct. 30 in line with a previous Supreme Court of Appeals decision that overturned the verdict of the initial trial process, on the grounds that it overlooked investigating the murder of the renowned editor-in-chief of the weekly Agos in the context of a planned and organized crime.

According to the decision, the suspects will be retried on charges of being a member of a criminal organization.

The Supreme Court of Appeals had also overturned the acquittals of top suspects including Yasin Hayal, who was charged with being the instigator of the assassination and the “leader of a terrorist organization.” Hayal and other suspects, such as Erhan Tuncel and Ersin Yolcu, are also being retried.

The triggerman Ogün Samast, who was sentenced to 22 years by a children’s court, is also likely to be tried on new charges, as the court ruled to associate his case with the main murder trial. Samast was only 17-years-old when he shot Dink in front of his office in Istanbul on Jan. 19, 2007.

However, lawyers have also been wary of the Supreme Court verdict, as it defined the aim of the murder as a “political act,” rather than an act of terrorism, as they have claimed that an armed terror organization was behind the killing. For a murder to be considered a “terrorist act,” it would have to be committed with a clear aim against the state of the public order, according to the Turkish Penal Code.

Lawyers previously said they would try to prove that the activities of the organization went beyond the assassination of Dink.

The ruling comes only a few days after the Justice Ministry cleared the path for investigations into nine civil servants, including senior police officers occupying key posts at the time of the murder, such as the former Istanbul police chief Celalettin Cerrah. The officers had been accused of negligence and threatening Dink before his death.

The Friends of Hrant Dink Association hailed the decision in a statement issued in front of the Istanbul courthouse Oct. 30, while demanding that the civil servants be charged with “murder.”

Dink’s lawyers have long been demanded that the investigation should focus on the “real web of connections” that led to Dink’s murder, while expressing few expectations from the retrial.

The matter was even subject to a review by Turkey’s Constitutional Court, which ruled that the case had not been efficiently investigated and the rights of Dink’s family were violated.

October/30/2014

He made Turkish intellectuals think of Armenian Cause: Hrant Dink would turn 60 today

September 15, 2014 By administrator

Chief Editor of the Agos monthly, the only Armenian-Turkish periodical published in Turkey, Hrant Dink would turn 60 today.

In an interview with Tert.am, Chief Editor of the Turkey-based Marmara daily Rober Hattechyan said that Hrant Dink was able to get the Armenian Cause put on the Turkish agenda. By speaking of the Armenian Cause bravely on numerous occasions, he made Turkish intellectuals start thinking of the Armenian Cause, whereas they had not had their own stance on the issue before.

“I think that was Hrant Dink’s greatest service. And during that period he made both friends and enemies, who were concerned over his speeches. That was actually the cause of his tragic fate. Dink used to make quite interesting statements, and I can frankly say that I did not agree with all of his conceptions. But sometimes he would prepare such materials – no one else would ever think of – that I would have been happy to write further articles about that in my newspaper.”

Mr Hattechyan recalls Hrank Dink’s statements that had the greatest impact on him.

“Once he said: ‘Yes, we have our eyes set on the Turkish land – not to capture it, but to lie under it.’ That was a rather symbolic word, and I should say that our wish is not only to lie under, but also to live a happy life in this land. We want justice, but Dink’s word had a different meaning, and it evoked wide response. And now many newspapers writing about him have to quote his words because they had a great impact on public opinion in Turkey.”

As to whether any Turkish intellectuals are continuing Hrank Dink’s cause, Mr Hattechyan said that some Armenian young people can continue Dink’s cause in Turkey with zeal.

On the other hand, Tiran Loqmagozyan, who once worked for the Agos, told Tert.am that he does not see any person in Turkey who could be a second Hrant Dink.

“The problem is that many people are making use of Hrant’s name, even people espousing fascist ideologies are making use of his thoughts. I am speaking of both Armenians and Turks. But I think they do not have even little in common with Hrant,” he said.

As regards Hrant Dink’s impact on the public opinion in Turkey Mr Loqmagozyan said that he did not have any serious impact on Turkey’s 70-million-strong population. However, he did have serious impact on certain circles, making them change their opinion on the Armenian Cause.

“He changed something with his death. That is, things progressed more rapidly. But if he lived on, he would have been able to get something changed for a longer period. I would like to note that Hrant Dink did not speak of Armenians’ problems alone. As a humanist, he spoke of Turks’ problems as well. By means of his newspaper he would defend the rights of the afflicted. He was a straightforward person. He did not think of what he was saying and where and thus made enemies in certain circles. On the other hand, he made many friends.”

Mr Loqmagozyan noted that many other people spoke of the problems existing in Turkey as well. However, Hrant Dink was an Armenian, and his voice was better heard.

“No Armenian had been so outspoken since the Armenian Genocide. He thought that he could speak out because he was saying the truth. He thought Turkey was changing, but, unfortunately, we have seen nothing is changing. He was an Armenian and a citizen of Turkey and he wanted Turkey to become a democratic country, where both Turks and Armenians would live a good life. He was always focused on the Armenian Cause and used to speak of that.”

One of Hrant Dink’s most important thoughts was:

“This is Genocide, even if, back in 1915, you had transported Armenians by gold airplanes. You cut the people off its roots.”
source: tert.am

Akin delays Turkish film on murdered Armenian journalist

August 2, 2014 By administrator

Turkish-German film director Fatih Akin says a film he wants to make about the murdered Armenian journalist Hrant Dink remains on ice because no Turkish actor was ready to play the lead role. Dink was shot dead in 2007.

Akin, who has collected a string of German and European cinema awards over 2 decades, told Saturday’s edition of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos on Saturday that the risks for Turkish actors were still too high and so he had put the project “in the freezer.”

Dink was shot dead by a teenage Turkish ultranationalist on a busy Istanbul street in 2007, outside the offices of Agos.

The 52-year-old Dink had campaigned for reconciliation between Turks and Armenians, who say that up to 1.5 million people were killed in 1915, during World War I, as the Ottoman Empire fell apart.

Turkey has long denied that the deaths amounted to a massacre, although in April Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke of “our shared pain.”

Script ‘too strong’

Akin said he had drafted a very text-rich script based on 12 of Dink’s articles published in Agos.

“However, I couldn’t convince any actor from Turkey to accept the role of Hrant [Dink]; they all found the script too strong,” Akin said.

“I didn’t want to put any actor at risk, but it was also important that a film about Hrant would be a Turkish film,” he added. “An American or French actor couldn’t have been cast as Hrant. We have to deal with this alone.”

Different entry at Venice festival

Akin said instead he combined parts of the Dink script to complete a different film, “The Cut,” which will premier at Italy’s Venice International Film Festival later this month.

“The Cut,” starring French actor Tahar Rahim, tells the story of an Armenian man who survives the 1915 killings and embarks on a journey across the world to find his daughter.

Dink’s assassination drew international attention and grew into a wider scandal with accusations of a Turkish state conspiracy.

At his funeral, an estimated 200,000 people marched, chanting “We are all Armenians.”

In February this year, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists ranked Turkey as the world’s leading jailer of journalists.

ipj/slk (AFP, Reuters)

Turkey CHP deputy: PM trying to stifle Hrant Dink case

July 30, 2014 By administrator

Turkish author and human rights activist Adalet Ağaoğlu (L) places carnations outside the Agos newspaper building during a ceremony to mark the sixth anniversary of the killing of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in İstanbul in this 2012 file photo. (Photo: Reuters)

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Sezgin Tanrıkulu slammed Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday for his recent remarks on the case involving the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, claiming that the government is trying to stifle the case. reported TODAY’S ZAMAN / ISTANBUL

In a written statement released on Wednesday, Tanrıkulu said Erdoğan is explicitly protecting the suspects in the case of Hrant Dink, who was assassinated outside the office of his Agos newspaper in broad daylight on Jan. 17, 2007, by not admitting that Dink was murdered because of his thoughts and writings. “The assassination of Hrant Dink was one of the most barbaric and shocking events in the world. It is now obvious that there are many different people who are involved in this assassination. Yet the Justice and Development Party [AK Party] is explicitly protecting and rewarding them,” Tanrıkulu stated.

Tanrıkulu also accused Erdoğan of not taking any concrete steps in order to capture the real players behind the scenes in the Dink assassination. “Dink’s assassination was not a result of personal enmity. It was purely an organized crime. Although Prime Minister Erdoğan knows of every single person involved in this murder, the real players still got away with what they did. Only the gunman was sentenced to a prison term,” Tanrıkulu said in his written statement.

Dink was shot dead by an ultra-nationalist teenager in broad daylight five years ago. The hitman, Ogün Samast, and 18 others were brought to trial. During the process, the lawyers for the Dink family and the co-plaintiffs in the case presented evidence indicating that Samast was not acting alone. Another suspect, Yasin Hayal, was given life in prison for inciting Samast to murder. However, Erhan Tuncel, who worked as an informant for the Trabzon Police Department, was found not guilty of the murder.

Stating that he had no doubt that justice will be done sooner or later in Turkey, Tanrıkulu said those behind this murder and those who try to stifle the case will be brought to justice one way or another. “We believe justice will return to this country some day. We are extremely curious as to why the prime minister made a statement regarding the Dink case amid an operation against more than 100 police officers, including former senior police chiefs, who were detained throughout the last week?” he stated.

Prime Minister Erdoğan made a statement last week to the Vatan daily on his way back from an election rally in Diyarbakır, saying: “The Hrant Dink case is personal. It is not possible to compare that with the parallel state [referring to Hizmet movement]. This parallel state is a security issue. They [the Hizmet movement] intend to take over government institutions. It would be a mistake to compare the Dink issue with the issue of the parallel state.”

Erdoğan’s open hostility toward the Hizmet movement has increased since Dec. 17, 2013, when prosecutors made public a massive graft investigation targeting the government, which led to the resignation of three Cabinet ministers and the removal of another. Erdoğan has accused the Hizmet movement of being behind the corruption probe that he claims is a coup attempt, although the prime minister has not produced any evidence to justify his claims.

Dink’s murder ‘not probed efficiently’: Turkey’s top court

July 17, 2014 By administrator

ANKARA

A group named ‘Friends of Hrant’ gathers in front of the Istanbul’s Çağlayan Courthouse, demanding justice for the late Turkish-Armenian journalist. (AA photo)

Turkey’s Constitutional Court has ruled that the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was not efficiently probed and the rights of his family were therefore violated.

The unanimous verdict came after an individual application to the Court from Hrant Dink’s family, Anadolu Agency reported. The family had applied to the court on the grounds that they had not been adequately informed about the investigation and that the probe was neglected.

The ruling came just days after an Istanbul court opened the path for the investigation of key officials regarding Dink’s murder on accusations of either intent or negligence. The Istanbul court lifted a previous decision that ruled there was no need for sanctions against the former deputy governor of Istanbul, Ergun Güngör, Istanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah, former Istanbul Police Department

Intelligence Head Ahmet İlhan Güler and six police officers regarding the 2007 assassination.

The local court recommended an investigation into nine officials following a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decision. A lawyer for the Dink family, Hasan Bakırcıoğlu, confirmed that it was now legally possible for a probe against Güngör, Cerrah, Güler and the six police officers.

Dink, the highly esteemed former editor-in-chief of weekly Agos, was murdered in broad daylight in front of his newspaper’s building on Jan. 19, 2007, by a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist. The triggerman, Ogün Samast, was convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to 22 years and 10 months of prison after a two year-trial, but lawyers representing the Dink family have repeatedly expressed their dismay over the way the investigations and the trial were conducted.

His assassination sent shockwaves through Turkey and grew into a wider scandal after it emerged that the security forces knew of a plot to kill Dink, but failed to act.

Backing up widespread accusations of a state conspiracy, another key figure in the trial, Erhan Tuncel, claimed in December 2013 that he had informed the police of the plan, but that his warnings went unheeded.

There have been suggestions that the killing was a result of “deep state” work, but the court said there was no organization behind the murder. According to reports, Dink was called to a police department and “warned” about the plot against him, fueling belief that the murder was known by some institutions within the state beforehand.

Top court’s decision came as an Istanbul court has once again postponed the hearing of the case, despite Dink’s lawyer’s calling for an urgent and just verdict.

The hearing was postponed from July 17 to Oct. 30 on the absence of Ahmet İskender, one of the main suspects in the case, and the other 18 suspects who did not appear at hearing.

July/17/2014

Turkey, Order sent to police to probe Gülen movement’s ‘possible armed branch’ including murder of journalist Hrant Dink,

July 7, 2014 By administrator

Turkey’s Security General Directorate has sent a notice to the police chiefs of 30 provinces, as part of an investigation to determine whether the Fethullah Gülen movement includes an armed organization within its structure.

The head of Security General Directorate’s anti-terror branch, Turgut Aslan, sent the notice upon an order by the prosecutors’ office, asking for all related documents to be sent. The investigation is being run by the Investigation Office of Crimes against the Constitutional Order, which operates under the Ankara Public Prosecutors’ Office.

Ankara Public Prosecutors’ Office Head Serdar Coşkun has previously issued an order for an investigation into the Gülen movement, Al-Jazeera Türk reported on June 23.

The latest notice directs police to investigate “whether Fethullah Gülen and his movement possess armed force or power enough to topple the government or destroy the Constitution in the event of a possible armed action by the movement’s members serving in the army, gendarmerie forces, security units and National Intelligence Organization [MIT].”

It also requests the reexamination of all major incidents that have taken place in Turkey over the last 10 years, seeking the possible involvement of the Gülen members as perpetrators or abettors. The murder of Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, the murders of three Christian missionaries in 2007, and the attack on the Council of State are among the key incidents that the probe requests be probed.

The notice ordered police to “immediately” locate where the movement allegedly keeps its archives and to conduct raids on these addresses. It will also identify the movement’s members, determine their addresses and seek permission from the authorities to allow monitoring of Gülenists’ phone conversations and electronic communication records.

The operations to search and collect evidence should be conducted simultaneously and in strict confidence, the order stated.

The order also requested the questioning as a victim of former national police chief Hanefi Avcı, who was released on June 20 after being controversially sentenced to 15 years in jail for a book he wrote, along with other former police chiefs Emin Aslan, Celal Uzunkaya, Faruk Ünsal and Orhan Özdemir.

Avcı’s book, “Haliç’te Yaşayan Simonlar: Dün Devlet Bugün Cemaat” (Devoted Residents of Haliç: Yesterday, State, Today, Religious Community), and the book “İmamın Ordusu” (The Imam’s Army) by journalist Ahmet Şık, who spent 11 months in detention after the book’s publication, will also be sent along with the other documents as a part of the probe.

July/07/2014

Source: hurriyet daily news

Turkey: Officials may face probe for Hrant Dink murder

June 6, 2014 By administrator

İsmail Saymaz ISTANBUL / Radikal

A man holds a portrait slain journalist Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink on April 24 as he takes part in a commemorative march in honour of Armenian intellectuals who were deported under under the Ottoman rule during the World War I. AFP Photo / Ozan Köse

Key officials could face a probe regarding the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink on charges of intent or negligence after an Istanbul court overturned a previous ruling.

An Istanbul court has lifted a previous decision, which has ruled there was no need for sanctions against the former deputy governor of Istanbul, Ergun Güngör, Istanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah, former Istanbul Police Department Intelligence Head Ahmet İlhan Güler and six police officers regarding the 2007 assassination.

The court recommended an investigation into nine officials following a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decision. A lawyer for the Dink family, Hasan Bakırcıoğlu, confirmed that it is now legally possible for a probe against Güngör, Cerrah, Güler and six police officers.

His assassination sent shockwaves through Turkey and grew into a wider scandal after it emerged that the security forces knew of a plot to kill Dink, but failed to act.

June/06/2014