The Turkish national accused by Moscow of killing a Russian military pilot said Friday in Istanbul do not be afraid of being targeted by Russian forces during his first public appearance since the beginning of the crisis between the two countries.
The Turkish press has released pictures Thursday of Alparslan Çelik attending the funeral in Istanbul Ibrahim Kucuk, a nationalist killed fighting alongside the rebels in Syria Turkmen.
It was the first public appearance
Turkey: Minister admits delay in Hrant Dink murder probe
Turkish Science, Industry and Technology Minister Fikri Işık admitted that the investigation into the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink had been delayed, and blamed the “parallel state” for the delay, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.
“We accept that there has been a delay [in prosecuting the murder of Dink] because of the attempts of the Parallel State Structure to shadow the probe,” Işık responding to questions in the parliament on Jan. 19, the ninth anniversary of the prominent journalist’s assasination.
Dink, an outspoken activist for minority rights and former editor-in-chief of weekly Agos, was shot dead outside his office in Istanbul’s Şişli district on Jan. 19, 2007 by 17-year-old Ogün Samast, who had traveled to Istanbul from the Black Sea province of Trabzon before the murder.
“I underline that no cause can legitimize any attempt on someone’s life. This incident is being worked on with all details,” said Işık.
“But nothing remains secret. If we had thought different, we would not make that much effort to investigate all details of this incident and we would not give complete support to the judiciary. At the moment, we want and hope that all related institutions will work effectively in enlightening this incident as well as other unsolved murder incidents,” he added.
Işık also added that he wanted to see the instigators of Dink’s murder found and brought to face justice.
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.
On Dec. 9, 2015, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office approved the indictment prepared against 26 police chiefs into “negligence on public duty” in the killing of Dink.
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.
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 the AKP government now accuses of heading a terrorist organization. The officials currently being investigated were suspected of having links to the Gülen movement.
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 public officials at the time of the assassination. All of the 26 were on duty at the time of Dink’s murder.
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.
Turkey Report: 2 gendarmes went to Dink’s apartment only days before murder
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was assassinated in broad daylight on Jan. 19, 2007 in front of the building of the Agos weekly in İstanbul. (Photo: Today’s Zaman, Kürşat Bayhan)
Two gendarmerie intelligence officers from the Trabzon Provincial Gendarmerie Command went to the apartment where Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink lived in the Bakırköy district of İstanbul several days before he was killed in January 2007, Al Jazeera Turk reported on Wednesday.
Dink was shot and killed by ultranationalist Ogün Samast outside the office of the Agos weekly, a newspaper he edited, on Jan. 19, 2007.
Referring to the officers by the initials “H” and “Z,” Al Jazeera Turk claimed that they asked the building’s doorman if Dink lived there. According to the report, the doorman had already testified to the prosecutor in the investigation into Dink’s murder that the officers introduced themselves to him as security personnel and asked about Dink. The doorman’s claim that gendarmes visited the building was confirmed by the detection of signals from two gendarmes’ phones near Dink’s apartment, Al Jazeera Turk reported.
A report published on the Internethaber online news portal on Jan. 4 claimed that new video footage linked to the assassination of Dink has recently emerged. According to the report, the footage shows six gendarmerie intelligence officers in front of the Agos newspaper building at the time of the murder. The report also said that the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office detected signals received from telephones belonging to six gendarmerie officers near Dink’s apartment at the time he was killed. The news portal also alleged that if the prosecutor’s office confirms that the six individuals detected were actually gendarmerie intelligence officers, this would prove that Dink’s murder was committed under the supervision of the gendarmerie.
Al Jazeera Turk claimed in its report that the prosecutor’s office has already confirmed the identity of one gendarmerie intelligence officer in the footage and has also acquired significant information about another officer but has not yet determined his identity.
Citing a number of sources within the police force, Al Jazeera Turk also claimed that the police had found that the gendarmes who visited Dink’s apartment before the assassination and the other officer identified in the footage were all linked to a gendarme lieutenant identified by the initials M.D. The report claims that M.D. was coordinating the officers and has been found to be at the center of phone traffic involving the gendarmes allegedly connected with the Dink murder. In addition, Al Jazeera Turk claimed that the phone traffic intensified days before the Dink murder and that M.D. welcomed the officers “H” and “Z” when they arrived in İstanbul from Trabzon before Dink’s murder.
The Radikal news portal reported last Friday that a separate investigation has been launched into a number of gendarmerie officers concerning Dink’s murder, in addition to the ongoing trial of 25 public officials on charges of negligence and misconduct. Early in December of last year, the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office accepted an indictment against 25 public officials after it was rejected for a second time in November. Among them are National Police Department Intelligence Unit Police Chief Engin Dinç and former İstanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah.
Radikal also reported that a friend of Yasin Hayal, a key suspect in an ongoing trial concerning the Dink murder, told gendarmerie officers in Trabzon about a murder plot against Dink before his killing. Furthermore, Radikal stated that the recent investigation involving gendarmes includes 12 officers from the Trabzon Provincial Gendarmerie Command and an officer from the İstanbul Gendarmerie intelligence branch and that Süleyman Kartal, a friend of Hayal from Trabzon, revealed a plot to kill Dink to both the Trabzon Police Department and the Trabzon Provincial Gendarmerie Command months before the murder.
Media outlets have reported that Kartal, who was interrogated by the İstanbul Police Department’s Counterterrorism Unit in December 2013, told the police that he shared information with gendarmes Okan Şimşek and Veysel Şahin about the murder plot months before it took place. Şimşek and Şahin had already earlier admitted that they knew about a plot to kill Dink six months before the murder took place and recounted that they had informed Gendarmerie intelligence director Capt. Metin Yıldız, who in turn informed former Trabzon gendarmerie commander Col. Ali Öz. The two officers testified that Öz did nothing upon receiving the information.
Öz and gendarmes Şahin, Şimşek, Metin Yıldız, Önder Aras, Hüseyin Yılmaz and Hacı Ömer Ünaldı were tried at the Trabzon 2nd Criminal Court of Peace on charges of “neglecting duty and forging documents” in 2011. The Trabzon court handed down prison sentences of six months each to Öz, Yıldız and four other gendarmes. However, the Supreme Court of Appeals reversed the verdict on Nov. 11, 2015, stating that the case was outside the court’s jurisdiction and sent the case to retrial at a high criminal court. The retrial is currently in progress.
Radikal also claimed on Friday that in addition to Öz, Yıldız, Şahin and Şimşek, the ongoing investigation against the gendarmes includes nine more gendarmerie officers whose names were not previously included among the suspects in the murder case.
Source: Todayzaman
Turkey: Hrant Dink prosecutor Kökçü Gokalp, taken from investigation
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.
Official claims MİT ‘warned’ Dink Armenian journalist upon request of General Staff
An official from the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) claimed during his 2014 testimony that Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was assassinated in 2007, was invited to the İstanbul Governor’s Office in 2004 to be “warned” over some of his controversial reports upon a request from the General Staff, the media has revealed.
The meeting was attended by Dink, former İstanbul Vice Governor Ergun Güngör and two MİT officials.
The details of the testimony given by Özel Yılmaz — one of the two MİT officials who attended the meeting — on Dec. 22, 2014 to İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Gökalp Kürkçü, who is overseeing an ongoing investigation into the killing of Dink, was recently revealed to media outlets.
According to a report in the Radikal daily on Monday, Yılmaz claimed in his testimony the meeting was held on the orders of the General Staff. Yılmaz reportedly told the prosecutor an official from the General Staff had called former MİT Undersecretary Şenkal Atasagun and requested that MİT “warn” Dink over his reports about the ethnic origin of Sabiha Gökçen, the adopted daughter of the founder of the Turkish Republic.
Yılmaz also reportedly claimed Atasagun appointed former MİT İstanbul Regional President Hüseyin Kubilay Günay to coordinate the meeting to warn Dink. Yılmaz also claimed during his testimony the MİT officials accidentally bumped into Dink when they were at the İstanbul Governor’s Office to collect some documents that Dink had provided to the governor’s office. Yılmaz also claimed he spoke to Dink about a prison sentence given to Dink over his reports, in which Dink alleged that Gökçen was of Armenian origin.
This testimony by Yılmaz has been questioned because it has some contradictions. Dink had not yet been handed down any prison sentence at that time when the meeting was held in 2014, contrary to what Yılmaz told the prosecutor.
In 2005, Dink was given a six-month suspended prison sentence after he was accused of denigrating “Turkishness” in writings about the identity of Turkish citizens of Armenian origin.
The MİT official said they did not go to the governor’s office to meet with Dink, but to collect the abovementioned documents. “When we were sitting in Güngör’s office, Dink came into the room. When we attempted to leave, Dink told us: ‘Please don’t bother. I can leave.’ Güngör presented us as his relatives and Dink told him our presence [in the room] would not be a problem for him. Later, we could not say we were actually MİT officials so as not to create any problems for Güngör.”
The details of the testimony given by Güngör on Dec. 9, 2014 were also revealed in the Radikal daily on Monday. According to the report, Güngör’s testimony also refutes some parts of Yılmaz’s testimony. Güngör said the meeting was held on a request by MİT, adding the governor’s office had no active role in the meeting except hosting it. Güngör also said the meeting was organized by Yılmaz and another MİT official, refuting Yılmaz’s claim that they accidentally bumped into Dink at the governor’s office.
Güngör also said Dink was invited to the meeting to be warned of “possible danger if he continues to make controversial statements.” He also said he introduced the two MİT officials as his relatives because MİT had requested in advance that he not reveal the identities of its officials.
A report published on news portal internethaber.com on Monday also claimed new footage has recently emerged on the assassination of Dink. According to the report, the footage shows six gendarmerie intelligence officers also in front of the Agos newspaper’s building at the time of the murder.
The report also pointed out the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office had already detected that signals were received from telephones belonging to six gendarmerie intelligence officers around the scene where Dink was shot at the time of the incident.
The news portal also says if the prosecutor’s office confirms that those six individuals detected in the footage were actually gendarmerie intelligence officers, this proves Dink’s murder was committed under the supervision of the gendarmerie.
Dink was shot and killed by ultranationalist hitman Ogün Samast in broad daylight outside the office of the Agos newspaper, where he worked, on Jan. 17, 2007. Samast was given a 22-year prison sentence, while a key suspect in the case, Yasin Hayal, was given a life sentence for inciting Samast to commit murder.
A retrial started in September 2014 when the İstanbul 5th High Criminal Court complied with a ruling from the Supreme Court of Appeals in May 2013 overturning a lower court’s ruling that acquitted the suspects in the Dink murder case of charges of forming a terrorist organization. This decision paved the way for the trial of some public officials on charges of voluntary manslaughter.
Istanbul: Dink murder cited as ‘sub-crime’ in new indictment
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.
Turkey: Prosecutor’s office shielding suspects in Dink murder from investigation, lawyer says
(AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Hakan Bakırcıoğlu, a lawyer representing the family of slain Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, has claimed that İstanbul Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor Orhan Kapıcı returned an indictment to him for removal of the names of three suspects, among them the National Police Department’s intelligence unit head, Engin Dinç.
An indictment that had already been revised by Gökalp Kökçü, the public prosecutor overseeing an ongoing investigation of state officials who face charges of misconduct and negligence in the murder of Dink in 2007, was again returned to Bakırcıoğlu by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in November for allegedly including some pro-government police officers as suspects and demanding a prison sentence of up to 25 years for Dinç.
Bakırcıoğlu claimed on Friday that the İstanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office wants to protect the three suspects whose names were mentioned in the indictment prepared by prosecutor Kökçü. “The actual reason why these indictments are being returned to the public prosecutor is because they want [Kökçü] to prepare an indictment that won’t include the names of Reşat Altay, Engin Dinç and Ahmet İlhan Güler,” Bakırcıoğlu said.
After Kapıcı returned the indictment, Bakırcıoğlu filed a petition to the Terrorism and Organized Crime Bureau of the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and informed them of Kapıcı’s justification that there isn’t enough evidence to support the claims filed against Altay, Dinç and Güler. Bakırcıoğlu added that the decision to return the indictment has no legal basis and it is against the law. He also said in the petition there is sufficient evidence to support claims filed against the suspects.
Bakırcıoğlu explained that only a court can return an indictment to the prosecutor who prepared it, in accordance with Article 174 of the Code on Criminal Procedure (CMK), which includes the article on returning indictments. “The indictment, dated Oct. 20, 2015 and prepared by prosecutor Gökalp Kökçü, must be submitted to the İstanbul 5th High Criminal Court as it is,” Bakırcıoğlu said.
Dink was shot and killed by Ogün Samast, an ultranationalist teenager, in 2007. Samast and 18 others were brought to trial. Since then, the lawyers for the Dink family and the co-plaintiffs in the case have presented evidence indicating that Samast did not act alone. Another suspect, Yasin Hayal, was sentenced to life in prison for inciting Samast to commit murder.
The retrial started in September 2014 when the İstanbul 5th High Criminal Court complied with a May 2013 ruling from the Supreme Court of Appeals, overturning a lower court’s ruling that acquitted the suspects in the Dink murder case of charges of forming a terrorist organization. This decision paved the way for the trial of public officials on charges of voluntary manslaughter.
Turkey: 25 years sought for police chief in Dink murder indictment
Signs and flowers are laid on the sidewalk in Osmanbey, İstanbul, to commemorate Armenian- Turkish journalist Hrant Dink. (Photo: Cİhan)
A prosecutor is seeking 25 years’ imprisonment for Engin Dinç, the head of the National Police Department’s intelligence unit, on charges of negligence in the 2007 murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.
The details of the indictment prepared by public prosecutor Gökalp Kökçü, who is overseeing an ongoing investigation into state officials facing charges of misconduct and negligence in the murder of Dink, were recently revealed to media outlets.
According to the details of the indictment, Dinç, who was leading the Trabzon Police Department’s intelligence unit at the time of Dink’s murder in 2007, former Trabzon Police Chief Reşat Altay and former İstanbul Police Department Intelligence Unit Chief Ahmet İlhan Güler should be tried under Article 83 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) dealing with negligence causing death due to the failure to take appropriate action to prevent the death, which is punishable by up to 25 years imprisonment.
There are 25 state officials among the suspects in the investigation, including Dinç, Güler, Altay, former İstanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah, former National Police Department Intelligence Unit head Sabri Uzun, former National Police Department’s intelligence unit head Ramazan Akyürek and former İstanbul Police Department Intelligence Bureau Chief Ali Fuat Yılmazer. Those suspects face charges of “forming an organization to commit crime,” “voluntary manslaughter,” “negligence” and “misconduct.”
It was also revealed that the prosecutor is seeking life sentences for Yılmazer and Akyürek and a year in prison for Cerrah and Uzun in the indictment.
However, earlier claims in the media stated the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office returned the indictment to Kökçü last Tuesday on the grounds that the indictment was “lacking.” After editing the indictment, Kökçü allegedly sent a new version of the 150-page document to the prosecutor’s office the day after.
The prosecutor’s office returned the indictment allegedly because the indictment included Dinç, who is known to be close to the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), among other state officials who are suspected of having engaged in negligence and misconduct regarding the Dink murder. According to the claims, the prosecutor’s office allegedly asked Kökçü to remove some names from the list of suspects although it is uncertain if he did.
Dinç is still operating as the head of the National Police Department’s intelligence unit. He worked as the Trabzon Police Department’s intelligence unit between Aug. 26, 2004 and Sept. 19, 2007. Several controversial incidents took place in Trabzon province during his period. The attempt of a local group to lynch members of the Association for Inmates’ Families’ Solidarity (TAYAD) during a demonstration held in Trabzon in 2005, a bomb attack on a McDonald’s restaurant in Trabzon in 2004 and the murder of Catholic Priest Andrea Santoro of the Sancta Maria Catholic Church by an ultranationalist teenager in Trabzon in 2006 were among those controversial incidents that took place during Dinç’s period.
Erhan Tuncel, who is a key suspect in the Dink murder, was among the perpetrators of the bomb attack on McDonald’s in 2004. However, Tuncel was allegedly kept outside of the investigation that was conducted into the bomb attack. He was then appointed as an informant working for the Trabzon Police Department’s intelligence unit.
In a petition filed by Hakan Bakırcıoğlu — the lawyer for the Dink family — with the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on Aug. 10, he asked the prosecutor’s office to try Dinç under Article 83. The lawyer claimed in the petition that Dinç had been aware of the intelligence that Yasin Hayal — another key suspect in the Dink murder — was planning to assassinate Dink as of Feb. 15, 2006 but did not send an official written statement to the Trabzon governor of that period, the Trabzon Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Trabzon provincial gendarmerie commander or the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) to warn them about the possible murder. Bakırcıoğlu also said Dinç neither informed the higher authorities about the preparations for the murder of Dink nor he conducted any operation against those who were planning the assassination to prevent the attack from taking place.
As the investigation into Dink’s murder deepened, eyes turned to Dinç, after several people working under him were arrested on charges of involvement in the murder.
Three police officers who worked under Dinç in the intelligence unit of the Trabzon Police Department — Ercan Demir, Özkan Mumcu and Muhittin Zenit — were arrested in January as part of an expanded probe into Dink’s murder. Trabzon Police Department Deputy Commissioner Mumcu and Zenit were arrested on Jan. 13 on charges of negligence and misconduct in Dink’s murder. An İstanbul court arrested former Cizre Police Chief Demir, who turned himself in on Feb. 23 after a warrant for his detention was issued on Jan. 16.
Dinç has since been promoted and is now chief of the National Police Department’s intelligence unit.
After the arrested police officials implicated Dinç, Kökçü twice summoned him to testify as part of the investigation as a suspect. However, Dinç did not go to the prosecutor’s office to testify. The media reports at that time claimed that Kökçü wanted to arrest Dinç over his suspected role in the Dink murder, but the government was disturbed by Kökçü’s intention and prevented Dinç from going to the prosecutor’s office to testify.
Dink was shot and killed by Ogün Samast, an ultranationalist teenager, in 2007. Samast and 18 others were brought to trial. Since then, the lawyers for the Dink family and the co-plaintiffs in the case have presented evidence indicating that Samast did not act alone. Another suspect, Hayal, was sentenced to life in prison for inciting Samast to commit murder.
The retrial started in September 2014 when the İstanbul 5th High Criminal Court complied with a ruling from the Supreme Court of Appeals in May 2013, overturning a lower court’s ruling that acquitted the suspects in the Dink murder case of charges of forming a terrorist organization. This decision paved the way for the trial of public officials on charges of voluntary manslaughter.
Source: Zaman
HDP Calls on International Community to Take ‘Firm Stance’ against AKP
Demirtas Criticizes Davutoglu and Erdogan, Labels Them ‘Provocateurs’
ANKARA, Turkey (Armenian Weekly)—On Oct. 12, Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chairs Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag released a statement urging the international community to take a “firmer stance against President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan and the AKP [Justice and Democracy Party] government,” noting that the authorities had “already lost legitimacy in the eyes of the public.”
The statement further “encouraged” the international community to address condolences to the people directly, and not to “the state representatives who are politically and administratively responsible for the massacre.”
“From the political rhetoric of Prime Minister [Ahmet] Davutoglu and the ministers he appointed, as well as that of President Erdogan, we see no political accountability with regards to this attack, the bloodiest in the history of the republic,” read the statement. “On the contrary, their public statements show a readiness to blame the victims of this attack and our party. Such a political tendency also shows that those responsible for this massacre will not be brought to justice, and that even the investigation may be hidden from public scrutiny.”
According to the HDP co-chairs, the media censorship following the attack suggests that “the government will be protecting not only the agents of this attack, but also those in political and administrative positions who paved the way for it.”
The statement comes two days after the Ankara bombings where at least 128 peace rally attendees were massacred, according to the latest figures provided by the HDP. Following the attack, Demirtas gave a press conference in which he strongly criticized the government for lacking accountability, and accused Davutoglu of spreading lies and disinformation.
Demirtas said he speaks from a place of loss, as he has lost around 150 friends to violence in recent months.
“You haven’t made one arrest in relation to any attacks—neither in the Suruc, nor Diyarbakir bombings. You won’t arrest the perpetrator of the Ankara bombing either,” said Demirtas.
The HDP co-chair also said that through their violent acts, the perpetrators wished to convey that “We can kill you and blow you up into pieces in broad daylight in the middle of Ankara.”
Demirtas said his statements are not motivated by possible political gains, nor are they intended to be a smear campaign tactic. “Damn your ballot box! Damn your greed for power! Damn your palace! We will not trade the lives of our friends, any child of our people, to the trillions you stole,” he said.
Directing his words to Davutoglu, Demirtas said, “You are governing this country, and you are responsible for every death. You will be held accountable for everything you have done.”
Demirtas went on to criticize the government for the lack of any security measures at the site of the peace rally. He said that if the rally had been organized by “them,” meaning the AKP, there would have been tight security measures. “This is Ankara, the capital of Turkey. Even if a bird flies, the state knows about it,” he said.
Demirtas also spoke about the tear gas used by security forces against those attempting to rescue survivors following the attack. Instead of being accountable for what took place, he said, Davutoglu blames the HDP and Demirtas on national TV. “What kind of arrogance and irresponsibility is this?” he asked.
“If I was the prime minister, I would go on stage, apologize 1,000 times over, and then resign… But these people don’t know what shame means… They call this ‘advanced democracy,’” he said.
“If Turkey is disturbed by our cries for democracy and peace, sorry, we do these rallies so we can live together, peacefully. You are the real provocateurs. Every speech you make smells of provocation. Both President and Prime Minister—every speech you make causes our people to hate one another,” said Demirtas.
On Oct. 11, Davutoglu invited the leaders of the opposition—with the exception of Demirtas, who according to Davutoglu was not invited because of his comments—to a summit to discuss the situation. Devlet Bahceli of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) refused to go. Kemal Kilicdaroglu of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) went, but following the summit gave a press conference criticizing the government, according to reports.
Protests condemning the attack and criticizing the government were held in various cities. In Diyarbakir, around 10,000 people reportedly held a moment of silence on Oct. 11 for those killed.
Below is the Oct. 12 HDP statement in its entirety:
***
Call to the International Community
On Oct. 10, a peace rally that brought together many civil society organizations, revolutionary unions, and progressive and democratic parties, among them the HDP, was the target of a horrendous attack. Unfortunately, at least 128 of our fellow citizens were murdered in this attack, and hundreds wounded. We are concerned that the death toll may rise, as 48 among the wounded are in critical condition. This attack will go down as one of the bloodiest in the history of our republic.
There are clear links between the attacks on our party’s rally in Amed [Diyarbakir] on the 5th of June, in which 5 of our citizens died and more than 200 were injured, and the suicide bombing in Suruc on the 20th of July, in which 34 of our citizens were killed during a press conference by youth from across Turkey in support of Kobane, as well as the suicide bombing at the Peace Rally in Ankara. To date, none of the politicians in power has been held accountable regarding the previous two attacks. From the political rhetoric of Prime Minister [Ahmet] Davutoglu and the ministers he appointed, as well as that of President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, we see no political accountability with regards to this attack, the bloodiest in the history of the republic. On the contrary, their public statements show a readiness to blame the victims of this attack and our party. Such a political tendency also shows that those responsible for this massacre will also not be brought to justice, and that even the investigation may be hidden from public scrutiny. The Prime Minister’s Office has already censored media coverage of the Ankara Massacre, suggesting that the government will be protecting not only the agents of this attack, but also those in political and administrative positions who paved the way for it.
Regarding this chain of massacres, we have a number of expectations and clear demands from the international community and from political leaders. In making this call, we wish to underscore that the Ankara Massacre and the aforementioned previous attacks are international in scope, and to make clear that we see the potential for such events to open the way to regional insecurity. AKP’s policy of relying on radical groups as proxies, which began with President Erdogan’s support of—and even channeling through MIT [Milli Istihbarat Teskilat], the [National] Intelligence Organization—the activities of such groups as ISIS, Al-Nusra, and Ahrar Al-Sham—used particularly against Kurds in Rojava—is at the heart of today’s tragedy.
President Erdogan aims to realize a “Turkey-type presidential regime” which will render him as the sole political authority in Turkey. In order to achieve this, Mr. Erdogan needs his party, the AKP, to secure the majority of the seats in parliament to form a single-party government. For this very reason, pushing HDP under the [10 percent] electoral threshold stands out as a straightforward tactic for AKP. In order to achieve this, AKP adopted the “escalation of violence” as a strategic approach. In a context where the ceasefire ended, the attacks against the PKK have intensified.
As the clashes escalated, the death toll of the soldiers was made a basis for creating a systematic wave of lynchings. On the one hand, AKP led fascist pogroms targeting HDP buildings as well as Kurdish groups living in the western parts of the country. On the other, Kurdish cities have been kept under military blockade and curfew. Only in Cizre, 21 civilians were massacred by the Turkish Armed Forces as well as the police. At a time when extreme nationalist and polarizing policies are implemented in Turkey, the safety of the general elections (November 2015) is a vexing question to be considered in a serious manner. Our electorates feel under constant threat in every social space and political activity they attend. In order to maintain stability in the region, it is crucial to prevent the devastating effects of the conflict from spreading over a wider geography. For this very reason, it is extremely important for the international community to take a firmer stance against President Erdogan and the AKP government that have already lost legitimacy in the eyes of the public in Turkey. Hereby, we encourage the international community who stand in solidarity to extend their condolences directly to the peoples of Turkey—not to the state representatives who are politically and administratively responsible for the massacre.
Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag
Peoples’ Democratic Party co-chairs
Armenian girl’s murder by Azerbaijani boy is captured on video
Moscow police have arrested the young Azerbaijani man who killed Anna, a nineteen-year-old Armenian girl.
The young man has been taken into custody for two months.
There is no doubt that Emil Zulfagharov had committed this crime.
The victim’s father said the boy was not leaving his daughter alone.
Since Anna had rejected his love, the Azerbaijani youth had started following her.
The girl’s relatives had to always accompany her to and meet her from the university she was attending, reported NTV television of Russia.
A street video camera has captured the last seconds of this Armenian girl’s life. The recording shows the boy hitting the girl several times in the stomach and fleeing the scene. Subsequently, the bleeding girl falls on the pavement and dies before an ambulance arrives.
Anna’s father noted that even though he had repeatedly petitioned to the police, the latter had ignored his complaints about this Azerbaijani boy.
Source: news.am