BIA, Turkey
Jan 6 2007

Parliamentarian Investigation Finds Nothing New in Dink Murder Case

Agirbas of the Parliamentarian Human Rights Investigating Commission
says that nothing new has come out of the commission’s investigations
so far.

Býa news centre

06-01-2008

Ayse Jale Agirbas is an MP for the Democratic Left Party (DSP) and
member of the subcommittee of the Parliamentarian Human Rights
Investigating Commission which is investigating the murder of Hrant
Dink and the investigation into the murder.

"Nothing new"

She told bianet that nothing new has come out of an interview the
committee held with Istanbul’s Governor Muammer Güler and his deputy
Ergün Güngör on Thursday (3 January):

"We asked Istanbul Governor Muammer Güler questions concerning
negligence. He gave us information about the event from the
beginning, in the form of headings. Because we are still at the
investigation stage, it is difficult to come to any conclusions.
There are also the Ankara and Trabzon connections. We need to look at
all the connections, and will prepare a report when the investigation
has been concluded."

Ergin Cinmen, a joint attorney in the Dink case, told bianet that,
had he been present at the meeting with the Governor, he would have
asked Güler why he had felt the need to call Hrant Dink for a talk.
"We don’t know whether Güler was asked this."

Agirbas said that Güler and Güngör were "aware of the issues". The
subcommittee also said that some people who had been on duty in the
Trabzon security forces were now on duty in Ankara, which is why they
would continue their investigation in Ankara, and then move on to
Trabzon.

Subcommittee met Dink family

On Friday (4 January), the subcommittee listened to the Dink family.
The meeting with Hrant Dink’s widow Rakel Dink, his brother Orhan
Dink and his son Arat Dink, with a lawyer present, took around 1 hour
and 20 minutes.

After meeting with the family, Mehmet Ocaktan, MP for the ruling
Justice and Development Party (AKP) and head of the subcommittee said
on the NTV channel:

"The Dink family expressed their demands on this investigation and
gave us information in order to draw our attention to points that
need to be investigated. We have no authority to intervene in the
judiciary process. We are listening to the authorities in order to
decide whether there was negligence. This will be the main focus of
our report."

He added that the Dink family was demanding "a result which would
prove that Turkey was a state ruled by law", and that the committee
had assured the family that it would work in an objective and legal
manner.

"The fact that Turkey lost an intellectual is saddening. If only
Turkey had not experienced such a shameful event. But if the rule of
law wins in Turkey, then this will be a compensation, this will be a
gain for us all.

Hrant Dink felt persecuted
In an article published in his Agos newspaper on 12 January 2007, a
week before he was murdered, Hrant Dink had described how the
Governor’s office had targeted him:

"The Assistant Governor said ‘Hrant Bey, you are an experienced
journalist. Should you not be more careful in your reporting? And
what need is there for such news?’ (…) From what they were saying
it was clear why they had called me there. I had to know my place, I
had to be careful; otherwise, it would not be good! (…) Again,
there was someone after me. I could feel them. And I knew fine well
that they would not be as common or obvious as the team of lawyer
Kemal Kerincsiz.’

The subcommittee investigating the Hrant Dink case is made up of
Ocaktan and Kazim Ataoglu from the AKP, Cetin Soysal of the
Republican People’s Party (CHP), Senol Bal of the Nationalist
Movement Party (MHP) and Agirbas. (GG/TK)

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