DINK’S KILLERS GO ON TRIAL

Reuters
Gulf Times, Qatar
July 3 2007

ISTANBUL: Eighteen suspects went on trial yesterday for the murder of
ethnic Armenian editor Hrant Dink in a case seen as a litmus test for
the rule of law and the right to free speech in Turkey, a European
Union candidate country.

Dink, whose comments about the massacre of Armenians in Turkey in 1915
angered Turkish nationalists, was gunned down outside his Istanbul
office in January by a 17-year-old who has confessed to the killing.

Up to 1,000 supporters of Dink and his family, including human
rights activists, gathered outside the heavily guarded courthouse in
Istanbul’s Besiktas district to demand justice amid claims that some
policemen were involved in the murder.

"Shoulder to shoulder against fascism", they chanted.

Dink’s lawyers have said the murder has not been properly investigated
and have expressed fears for the independence of the court, reflecting
concerns about the possible involvement of Turkey’s so-called
"deep state".

The "deep state" is a loose term used to describe hardline nationalists
in the bureaucracy and security forces ready to subvert the law for
their own political ends.

Several Turkish newspapers yesterday quoted one of the main suspects,
Yasin Hayal, as saying he and his comrades murdered Dink on the orders
of police officers.

"I do not know what this ‘deep state’ means. I don’t know whether
it’s legal or illegal, but one thing is sure – there was a group
controlling us in the police," the Radikal daily quoted Hayal as
saying in a letter to prosecutors.

"Although you saw this, you have not protected our rights. Now I
ask you, if we were used in the service of the state, is it not the
state’s duty to protect our rights?"

Police have not publicly commented on the accusations.

Dink family lawyer, Fethiye Cetin, said the teenager accused of
shooting Dink exercised his right to remain silent in yesterday’s
hearing. Hayal and another suspect traded accusations in their
statements to the court, Cetin added.

The EU and human rights groups have shown a strong interest in the
Dink case, saying it is a crucial test for a justice system often
criticised for political bias.

"We will be closely watching how the court handles any evidence
that may implicate the security forces," said Holly Cartner, Europe
and Central Asia director at the New York-based Human Rights Watch,
in a weekend statement.

Several officials, including the head of police intelligence in
Istanbul, have been sacked over their handling of the case.

Shortly after Dink’s murder, video footage came to light showing
his suspected killer striking a heroic pose alongside security force
members apparently commending him for his act.

Dink, who received many death threats, worked for understanding
between Turks and Armenians through his bilingual Agos newspaper. But
his writings on the 1915 massacres and deportations of Armenians by
Ottoman Turks touched a nerve in Turkey.

Ankara denies Armenian claims, backed by many historians and by a
growing number of foreign parliaments, that the killings amounted
to genocide.

It says large numbers of both Muslim Turks and Christian Armenians
died in ethnic fighting as the Ottoman Empire collapsed during World
War I.