By:Hambersom Aghbashian
Vatan newspaper journalist Kemal Göktaş faced a five years prison sentence for writing and publishing his book “The Hrant Dink Murder: Media, Judiciary, State”. The book revealed background
information on the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in 2007.(1)
On July 10, 2009, Vercihan Ziflioğlu wrote in Hurriet Daily News ” A book written by journalist Kemal Göktaş delves into the bigger picture behind the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in front of his office in Istanbul in 2007. Göktaş explores the role of the media in turning Dink into a target and how the state and judiciary also played their part in the incident leading to Dink’s murder. Dink was gunned down in front of the Agos newspaper office, where he was editor-in-chief, in central Istanbul on Jan. 19, 2007. At the time he was being tried for “insulting Turkishness” under the infamous Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. Other authors such as novelist Elif Şafaf and Nobel winner Orhan Pamuk have also faced prosecution under the same article and widespread media coverage of their trials forced Pamuk to seek refuge abroad fearing for his life while Şafak opted for silence”.(2)
On February 17, 2010 , Mustafa Turan wrote in Today’s Zaman “Kemal Göktaş, a correspondent for the Vatan daily in Ankara, said in an Istanbul court yesterday that the Istanbul Police Department knew that Turkish-Armenian writer Hrant Dink was to be killed but did not take any precautions. In a hearing at Istanbul’s 2nd Court of First Instance, Göktaş, who is being tried for revealing secret documents and jeopardizing the state’s police department, said in his defense that the Trabzon Police Department had informed the Istanbul Police Department about the plans for Dink’s murder. In his book, Hrant Dink’s Murder — Media, Judiciary and State, Göktaş had revealed how the Istanbul Police Department ignored warnings from the Trabzon Police Department about Dink’s murder. Göktaş said in his own defense that Intelligence Chief Ramazan Akyürek and the Istanbul Police Department filed a criminal complaint against him for publishing the document which showed how Hrant Dink was going to be murdered and [proved that] police knew it beforehand. It shows that a group headed by Yasin Hayal was to kill Dink”. (3)
Göktaş was among the 10 Turkish journalists that traveled to Armenia in a joint venture by the International Hrant Dink Foundation and the Heinrich Böll Foundation. “I went to Armenia for the first time. It was a very impressive trip. The Armenians are experiencing a trauma and mourning passed on from generation to generation. Most of the people I’ve met had their roots in Anatolia; they were very friendly to us,” Göktaş said.(2)
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1- http://www.bianet.org/english/freedom-of-expression/120102-two-journalists-at-court-for-pursuing-dink-murder
2- http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/domestic/11831179_p.asp
3- http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action;jsessionid