LAWYER: TURKISH TEEN SAYS HE REGRETS KILLING ETHNIC ARMENIAN JOURNALIST

The Associated Press
International Herald Tribune, France
Oct 1 2007

ISTANBUL, Turkey: A teenager accused of killing ethnic Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink told a court on Monday he regretted his actions
and claimed he carried out the slaying under the influence of drugs,
according to a lawyer present at the hearing.

Dink was shot dead in front of his newspaper’s office in January in
a brazen daylight attack that prompted international condemnation
and debate within Turkey about free speech.

On Saturday, Turkish media aired a recording of a telephone
conversation between one of the suspects and a police officer. The
dialogue, even though vague, suggests the police officer knew about
a plan to kill the journalist but did nothing to protect him or hunt
down the plotters.

Although the tape emerged Saturday, there have been claims of police
negligence since the arrest of the teenager, including allegations
that one of the suspects who planned the killing was a police informant
and was in close contact with police officials.

Dink was hated by hardline nationalists for describing the mass
killings of Armenians early in the last century as genocide, which
is considered an insult by most Turks.