Suspect in Journalist Death Makes Threat
By BENJAMIN HARVEY
Wednesday January 24, 2007 2:46 PM
Associated Press Writer
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) – A man who confessed to inciting the murder
of a prominent journalist shouted what appeared to be a threat
against another leading Turkish intellectual on Wednesday, the Nobel
Prize-winning novelist Orhan Pamuk.
"Orhan Pamuk, be smart! Be smart!" Yasin Hayal shouted as he was
being brought to an Istanbul courtroom with his hands cuffed behind
his back. Police quickly pressed Hayal’s head down to silence him
and led him away.
Hayal, a militant nationalist who served time in prison for a 2004 bomb
attack, confessed to inciting last week’s slaying of the influential
ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink and to providing a gun and
money to the alleged killer, police said.
Hayal allegedly told the killer that Dink, who angered nationalists
by calling the mass killing of Armenians in the early 20th century
genocide, was "a traitor to his country who insults Turks."
The suspected triggerman, a teenager named Ogun Samast, confessed to
shooting Dink in a four-page statement given to prosecutors Wednesday,
and was formally charged with the murder, the state-run Anatolia news
agency reported.
Samast told police Hayal gave him money and a picture of the journalist
that he carried with him for several months, the news agency reported.
Dink, editor of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos, had been
brought to trial numerous times for allegedly "insulting Turkishness,"
a crime under the notorious Article 301 of Turkey’s penal code.
Like Dink, Pamuk also faced trial in Turkey for commenting on the
killings of Armenians and had been accused of treason for doing so.
And like Dink, he said he received death threats and considered
leaving the country because of them.
Pamuk’s case was thrown out on a technicality, and he went on to win
the Nobel Prize in literature last year. He was the first Turk to
do so.
Dink’s murder inspired an outpouring of support for liberal values,
including freedom of expression, tolerance and reconciliation between
Armenians and Turks, with more than 100,000 people marching in his
funeral procession on Tuesday.
But Hayal’s comments raised fears that Turkey may continue to be a
dangerous place for intellectuals who openly express their ideas.
Most Turks suspect that the killer – who as a teenager will likely
receive a lessened prison sentence if convicted – may have ties to
ultra-nationalist groups.
Dink himself had said that he was being threatened by elements of the
"deep state," a term for a shadowy network inside the Turkish military,
intelligence and political circles that is believed to use clandestine
methods to defend the state against perceived threats.
Amid a period of national introspection, Dink’s family has called on
Turks to look at how they have permitted the creation of an atmosphere
that led to his killing.
Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said the crime was carried out by
"circles who do not want Turkey to develop and reach the level of
prosperous and modern countries." Aksu condemned the attack, saying
it had no justification and was being "investigated in great detail."