TRIAL STARTS FOR MURDER OF ARMENIAN JOURNALIST

International Herald Tribune, France
July 2 2007

ISTANBUL: More than six months after the killing of an ethnic Armenian
journalist, 18 suspects went on trial Monday in a case widely seen as
a test of whether the Turkish judiciary will be able to investigate
allegations of official negligence in the slaying.

Hrant Dink was gunned down on Jan. 19, and his killing led to
international condemnation and debate within Turkey about free
speech. Dink was hated by hard-line nationalists for describing the
mass killings of Armenians early in the last century as genocide.

The trial is taking place behind closed doors because the accused
gunman, Ogun Samast, is a minor. The others on trial are accused of
being accomplices

Critics accused the authorities of not acting on reports of a plot to
kill Dink, and it is unclear whether allegations that could potentially
be embarrassing for top officials will be explored in the trial.

Hundreds of protesters demonstrated near the court house, appealing
for justice and carrying a banner that read: "We are all witnesses,
we want justice."

The Turkish government has promised a thorough investigation, and
the governor and police chief of the Black Sea city of Trabzon,
the hometown of Samast, were removed from office because of negligence.

Some security officials who had posed for photographs with the suspect
as he held a Turkish flag were also dismissed.

There is no evidence that directly implicates any police or government
officials in the slaying of Dink. But many Turks say they are convinced
a "deep state" of state agents or former officials, possibly with
links to organized crime, periodically targets perceived enemies in
the name of nationalism.