POLITICIAN DETAINED IN DINK CASE RELEASED

Baku Sun, Azerbaijan
April 2 2007

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – A right-wing politician detained for questioning
in connection with the killing of an ethnic Armenian journalist was
released Tuesday without charge.

But police were still questioning three other members of the local
branch of the conservative and nationalist Great Unity Party over the
Jan. 19 murder of journalist Hrant Dink. The three were scheduled to
appear in court on Wednesday to face possible charges or be released
from custody.

Yasar Cihan, the head of Great Unity Party in the Black Sea port
city of Trabzon, was detained late Sunday and taken to Istanbul for
questioning. Authorities did not say on what grounds Cihan and the
three others were detained, but the politician had admitted giving
money to the family of one of the suspects charged in the killing.

Cihan had insisted the money was a charitable gift – he said he often
helps needy families.

Dink was shot dead outside the offices of his paper, Agos, in
Istanbul. Prosecutors have pressed charges against 10 suspects,
including some former members of the youth wing of Great Unity. The
killing prompted international condemnation as well as debate within
Turkey about free speech, and whether state institutions showed
tolerance to militant nationalists.