Istanbul Armenian church turned into reception hall

February 26, 2016 By administrator

Armenian protestant church in Istanbul‘s Beyoglu district has been turned into a reception hall, Ermenihaber.am reports citing Sozcu.

The first and second floors of the building, which was built in 1850 and was in active use until 1922, served as a school and a church, respectively. The Beyoglu municipality declared the church a public domain in 1995.

Istanbul City Council member, representative of Turkey’s Republican People’s Party (CHP) Hussein Sagi criticized the decision to use the building for other purposes. “The head of Beyoglu district succeeded in turning the historic church into a “multifunctional one,” he ironized.

“The building was to be renovated, reopened for worship and returned to its legal owners. What place of prayer has ever served as a reception hall for engagement or wedding parties?” the official said.

Another elderly Armenian killed in Istanbul

February 7, 2016 By administrator

armenian women The robbers who broke into the house of an elderly Armenian couple in Istanbul’s Şişli district, robbed the house, tied up the couple and left.

The housecleaner who arrived at the couple’s house and saw that nobody was opening the door to her, called to the relatives of the couple, who immediately contacted with the police, Turkish Hurriyet reports.

The firefighters who arrived at the scene went in from the window and saw the couples tied up. As it tuned out, the tied 85-year-old husband had choked up, while the 79-year-old woman was in critical condition.

The elderly Armenian woman was taken to hospital, where she said three men had robbed their house and tied them up.

Turkey: Nine years on: No solid steps taken in Hrant Dink assassination

January 19, 2016 By administrator

AA Photo

İsmail Saymaz – ISTANBUL,

No solid legal steps have been taken in the nine years since Armenian-origin journalist Hrant Dink was assassinated outside his office in Istanbul on Jan. 19, 2007, as thousands of people gathered to commemorate the late Agos editor-in-chief on the anniversary of his death.

The large crowd filed past the military museum in the Şişli district at around 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 19 to walk toward the Agos office building to read a statement at the site where Dink was shot dead by triggerman Ogün Samast nine years ago.

Accompanied by water cannons and armored vehicles, police took intense security measures along the route of the march as well as around the office of weekly Agos in Şişli’s Osmanbey neighborhood.

A poster reading “we are here Ahparig, with longing, anger and determination!” was placed on the outer walls of the office building. “Ahparig” means “my brother” in Armenian.

In legal terms, only one lawsuit has been filed into Dink’s assassination, while an ongoing investigation was launched separately against 26 public officials into negligence at the time of the killing. None of the 26 probed officials, including former and current police chiefs, have yet been tried.

Relatives and followers of the case have claimed government officials, police, military personnel and members of Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency (MİT) played a role in Dink’s murder by neglecting their duty to protect the journalist.

When Dink was murdered, the 26 officials were on duty in police departments in Istanbul, Ankara and the Black Sea province of Trabzon, from which Samast came to Istanbul before shooting the prominent journalist in the head nine years ago. Samast was sentenced to 22 years and 10 months in prison after being tried in a juvenile court as he was 17 at the time of the shooting death of Dink.

Samast’s killing of Dink was incited by Yasin Hayal, who in 2004 carried out a bomb attack with collaborator Erhan Tuncel targeting a McDonalds restaurant in Trabzon on the grounds that it was selling food during the Islam-holy month of Ramadan.

Hayal, who like Tuncel is a former member of a far-right political party and a right-wing nationalist youth group, was sentenced to life in prison for inciting Dink’s murder. Tuncel had been appointed as an Assistant Intelligence Officer at the Trabzon Police Department and informed police a year before Dink’s murder that Hayal had been planning to murder him. This information was then conveyed to the three police departments in Istanbul.

The investigation launched into the negligence of public officials at the time of Dink’s murder is still ongoing, with 26 current and former police officers stated as suspects in the indictment. The indictment prepared by Gökalp Kökçü, an Istanbul prosecutor who has also been in charge of terrorism-related investigations, was approved by the Istanbul 14th Court for Serious Crimes after it was presented on Dec. 9, 2015.

However, Kökçü was appointed to a department dealing with non-terrorism-related criminal activities as part of his job rotation system within the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, meaning that he was not able to head the investigation into the negligence of public officials in Dink’s murder.

The Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office had returned the indictment to Kökçü in early November last year, arguing that “evidence that some of the suspects committed ‘deliberate murder’ could not be proven.”

Lawyers representing the Dink family reacted against the indictment returned to Kökçü, which meant that cases will likely not be opened against the suspects.

Hakan Bakırcıoğlu, a Dink family lawyer, said on Nov. 4 last year that not opening a case against former police chiefs Ahmet İlhan Güler, Celalettin Cerrah, Reşat Altay, Engin Dinç and other suspects, would exclude their integral responsibility in Dink’s murder.

Recalling the first two versions of the indictment, the latest one drafted in late October last year, Bakırcıoğlu said the two indictments charged former police chiefs Ali Fuat Yılmazer, Ramazan Akyürek, Tamer Bülent Demirel and Osman Gülbel each with “deliberate murder,” Engin Dinç, Reşat Altay and Ahmet İlhan Güler each with “deliberate murder with negligence,” and Sabri Uzun and Celalettin Cerrah each with “malpractice on public duty.”

“Despite resistance and barriers in front of the interrogation and investigation of public servants who took part in Dink’s murder, they were interrogated and investigated by the prosecutor [in charge of the case],” Bakırcıoğlu said.

January/19/2016

Explosion near Istanbul Armenian school and church

January 15, 2016 By administrator

There was an explosion in the manhole located between the Armenian Tarkmanças (Translators) School and Surp Asdvadzadzin (Holy Mother of God) Church in Istanbul, Turkey. As a result of the blast, the cover of the manhole flew off about 10 meters, according to Habertürk daily of the country. The police rushed to the scene and closed off to area. As per the experts, however, it is very likely that the blast occurred due to the excess amount of methane gas that had built up inside the manhole.

Turkey: At least 10 killed 15 wounded as suicide bombing rocks historic İstanbul square

January 12, 2016 By administrator

Turkish police sealed off a central Istanbul square in the historic Sultanahmet district on Tuesday after a large explosion. (Photo: DHA)

An explosion believed to be caused by a suicide bombing rocked İstanbul’s central Sultanahmet Square, a major tourist attraction, on Tuesday, leaving 10 people dead and 15 wounded. Officials said most of those killed were German nationals.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the attack appears to have been carried out by a “Syrian-origin” suicide bomber.

“I condemn the terror incident in İstanbul assessed to be an attack by a suicide bomber with Syrian origin. Unfortunately we have 10 dead including foreigners and Turkish nationals… There are also 15 wounded,” Erdoğan told a lunch for Turkish ambassadors in Ankara, in a speech broadcast live on television.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said that all of those killed in the attack are foreign nationals.He also said that the suicide bomber is a member of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş told reporters in Ankara following a high-level security meeting hastily called to discuss the attack, that most of those killed in the blast are foreign nationals and two of the 15 wounded have serious injuries. He also said that the suicide bomber who carried out the attack is a 28-year-old Syrian national. Doğan news agency reported that the suicide bomber is identified as Saudi-Arabian born Nabil Fadlı.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, although Reuters, citing two senior officials, reported that there is a high probability that Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants were responsible for the explosion in the Sultanahmet Sqaure.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu told German Chancellor Angela Merkel by phone most of the 10 people killed in the İstanbul blast on Tuesday were German citizens, Reuters reported, citing sources in Davutoğlu’s office said.

Davutoğlu also told Merkel on the phone call that the details of an ongoing investigation regarding the suicide attack will be shared with German officials.

A senior Turkish government official stold the AP that at least nine of the victims of Tuesday’s suicide bombing are German nationals.

The Doğan news agency earlier reported that at least six Germans, one Norwegian and one Peruvian are among those injured in the explosion. Seoul’s Foreign Ministry also told reporters via text message after the blast that one South Korean had a minor finger injury. The Cihan news agency also reported, citing South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, that a South Korean tourist was slightly injured during the explosion.

Chancellor Angela Merkel had expressed worry that German citizens might be among the victims and the wounded in the explosion.

“International terrorism has shown its ugly face,” said Merkel. “We need to act decisively against it.”

Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier had said that German citizens may have died in the attack and that Germans were almost certainly among the injured.

“By now we have to assume that also Germans have been injured in this terror attack,” Steinmeier said. “We also can’t exclude that Germans are among the dead.”

Germany’s Foreign Ministry warned German citizens to avoid crowds outside tourist attractions in İstanbul, saying on its website that further violent clashes and “terrorist attacks” are expected across Turkey. It also urged travelers to stay away from demonstrations and gatherings, particularly in large cities.

Denmark has joined Germany in warning its citizens to avoid crowds outside tourist attractions in Turkey. The Danish Foreign Ministry updated its website following Tuesday’s deadly explosion. The travel advisory said Danes should “until further notice” avoid public places and other places where a lot of people are gathered.

The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) imposed a temporary media ban on coverage of the explosion after a demand from the Prime Ministry.

Turkey: Hrant Dink prosecutor Kökçü Gokalp, taken from investigation

January 11, 2016 By administrator

Dink murder in the indictment related to public officials and relevant organizations currently investigating the murder of Dink rootlets Gokalp’s positions were changed.

According to Aljazeera’s news Turkey, Istanbul Chief Prosecutor Hadi Salihoğlu, 2016 business section and the operating instructions issued. Salihoğlu has made significant changes in the mandate of the court.

According to the report, in the framework of the Business section of the instructions filed on Dink murder public officials under Gokalp rootlets was also the changes in the task. Sledgehammer claims of the caliper and Dunk conducting the investigation into the murder is the gendarmerie intelligence officers in the region identified Kökçü prosecutor was appointed to the General Preparation Bureau of Investigation. Kökçü not refer to the investigation covered terrorism. Dunk and Sledgehammer investigation on the rootlets of the hand will be transferred to another prosecutor.

The doorman instead of Orhan appointed as deputy attorney general responsible for the terrorist responsible for the smuggling Bureau Irfan Saplings were introduced.

The indictment had been returned twice

Prosecutors Kökçü, in December 2014, was tasked with looking into the Dink murder investigation. Prosecutors Kökçü, period, Istanbul Police Chief Celalettin Surgeon EGM Intelligence Department, former President Sabri Uzun, Trabzon Provincial Police former Chief Resat Altay and the Police Intelligence Department Head Engin Dinc had also organized 26 indictment of public officials, among them. The indictment was returned by the Attorney General’s prosecutors held twice.

Anti Christian Muslim Turkey, protest in Istanbul’s Beyazıt for New Year celebrations

December 30, 2015 By administrator

CİHAN photo

ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency

A Muslim youth group has held an “anti-Santa” rally in Istanbul, a city where, ironically, Christians ruled hundreds of years ago. The Istanbul University branch of the group, Anatolia Youth Association (AGD), held a rally on Dec. 30 at Beyazıt Square. Around 100 people held posters against celebrations held during New Year’s Eve on the grounds that it is a Christian tradition. The group dispersed after reading a press statement.

Christmas is celebrated by small number of Christian minorities in Turkey. Many celebrate New Year’s Eve and exchange presents on that day.

The center of New Year’s Eve celebrations used to be Istanbul’s Taksim square in previous years. However, Istanbulites now prefer Nişantaşı or Beşiktaş for street celebrations rather than Taksim due to the increased number of sexual harassment incidents in the area.

Istanbul police fire tear gas on protesters rallying over crackdown in Kurdish areas

December 20, 2015 By administrator

Turkish police have fired tear gas on several hundred protesters in Taksim Square in Istanbul, Reuters reports.

The protesters gathered to demonstrate against security operations and curfews in the southeast, where more than 100 have been killed this week.

The offensive in the largely Kurdish region began last week in an effort to “cleanse” the area of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) “militants.”

In Istanbul, riot police chased protesters and pushed shoppers and tourists out of the way. Shops closed their shutters and at least two protesters have been detained.

Turkey: 26 police officers to stand trial in Dink case

December 16, 2015 By administrator

Hürriyet Photo

ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency,

An indictment of the investigation into negligence of public officials in the killing of prominent Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink in Istanbul has been approved by the court.

A total of 26 police officers, including both current and former police chiefs, will be tried as the indictment in the nine-year-long investigation into negligence of public employees in the shooting death of Dink was recognized by the Istanbul 14th Court for Serious Crimes on Dec. 15 following its Dec. 9 approval by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The 26 police officers were charged with one count each of “forming or heading an armed terrorist group,” “membership of an armed terrorist group,” “power abuse on duty,” “manipulating, destroying and/or concealing official documents,” “deliberate murder,” “fabricating official documents by public employees” and “deliberate murder on negligence” in the case filed into negligence of public officials at the time of the assassination. All of the 26 were on duty at the time of Dink’s murder.

The move comes a week after the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on Dec. 9 approved the indictment prepared against the 26 police officers into “negligence on public duty” in the shooting death of Dink, the editor-in-chief of weekly Agos, who was shot dead outside his office in Istanbul’s Şişli district on Jan. 19, 2007.

The indictment prepared by prosecutor Gökalp Kökçü was presented to the Istanbul 14th Court for Serious Crimes after it had been rejected by deputy chief prosecutor Orhan Kapıcı twice.

Having been rejected twice before, lawyers representing the Dink family expressed the reaction against the indictment in the investigation returning to Kökçü. The return means that cases will likely not be opened against the suspects.

The Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office returned the indictment to Kökçü in early November, arguing that “evidence of voluntary manslaughter concerning some of the suspects was not revealed.”

However, Hakan Bakırcıoğlu, a Dink family lawyer, said on Nov. 4 that not opening a case against former police chiefs Ahmet İlhan Güler, Celalettin Cerrah, Reşat Altay, Engin Dinç and other suspects, would exclude their integral responsibility in Dink’s murder.

Recalling the first two versions of the indictment, the latest one drafted in late October, Bakırcıoğlu said the two indictments charged former police chiefs Ali Fuat Yılmazer, Ramazan Akyürek, Tamer Bülent Demirel and Osman Gülbel each with “voluntary manslaughter,” Engin Dinç, Reşat Altay and Ahmet İlhan Güler each with “voluntary manslaughter due to negligence” and Sabri Uzun and Celalettin Cerrah each with “malpractice.”

All the names of the suspects implicated in the investigation were reported to have been on duty in police departments in Istanbul, Ankara and the Black Sea province of Trabzon at the time of Dink’s murder.

Dink was shot dead outside his office building in Istanbul’s Şişli district on Jan. 19, 2007, by 17-year-old Ogün Samast.

December/16/2015

Istanbul: Dink murder cited as ‘sub-crime’ in new indictment

December 10, 2015 By administrator

The 2007 killing of prominent Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink has been stated as a “sub-crime aimed at achieving the goals of a terrorist organization” in the indictment probing alleged negligence of 26 public officials, daily Hürriyet has reported.

The indictment recently approved by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office probing the suspects, who are all current and former police chiefs, stated that a public case had to be filed into the assassination of Dink.

The indictment referred to U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen, a former ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) who they now accuse of heading a terrorist organization. It said the officials being investigated were suspected of having links to the Gülen movement.

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on Dec. 9 approved the indictment prepared against 26 police chiefs into “negligence on public duty” in the killing of Dink, the former editor-in-chief of weekly Agos who was shot dead outside his office in Istanbul’s Şişli district on Jan. 19, 2007.

The 26 suspects could be tried on “negligence of public duty” charges if the court recognizes the indictment. The court is expected to announce its decision within 15 days.

All the names of the suspects implicated in the investigation are reported to have been on duty in police departments in Istanbul, Ankara and the Black Sea province of Trabzon at the time of Dink’s murder.

Dink was shot dead by 17-year-old Ogün Samast, who traveled to Istanbul from Trabzon before the murder.

Relatives and followers of the case have long claimed that government officials, police, military personnel and members of the National Intelligence Agency (MİT) played a role in Dink’s murder by neglecting their duty to protect the journalist.

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