Turkish murder suspect: No ties

CNN International
Jan 22 2007

ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) — The teenage suspect who confessed to gunning
down a Turkish-Armenian journalist last week has no connection to any
organized group, Istanbul police chief Celalettin Cerrah said Monday.

In his weekend confession, Ogun Samast, 17, said he had no regrets
for killing Hrant Dink and said he was angry at the prominent Turkish
journalist of Armenian heritage, according to Turkey’s state-run news
agency Anatolia.

Dink was shot to death in front of his Istanbul newspaper office
Friday in broad daylight.

Police arrested Samast on Saturday after a 32-hour search, authorities
said.

Turkish media, citing police, reported that Samast is 17, a high
school dropout and a possible drug addict.

He was arrested on a bus in Samsun, on his way to Trabzon. The bus
was waiting to leave the bus station, Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler
told reporters.

During the arrest Guler said police found a gun and the white knit
that Samast was wearing on a surveillance video that had been aired
on Turkish television.

It was the surveillance video that led to the youngster’s arrest.

Police said his father saw widely publicized pictures from the
surveillance video and tipped them off.

The father is from Trabzon in northern Turkey on the Black Sea,
but Samast was living in Istanbul with his uncle, according to media
reports.

Authorities said the youngster was brought to Istanbul by plane Sunday.

At least 12 people have been detained in connection with the case in
Trabzon, and 6 of them are to be brought to Istanbul for questioning
on Sunday, CNN Turk said.

CNN’s Talia Kayali and Paula Hancocks contributed to this report.