CHRISTIAN EDITOR’S MURDER TRIAL SEEN AS TEST FOR TURKEY
Christian Today
Feb 12 2008
UK
Supporters of slain Turkish Armenian editor Hrant Dink demanded justice
on Monday at a third hearing in the trial of his suspected killers,
in a case seen as a test for democracy and human rights in Turkey.
The murder of Dink, who hails from Turkey’s 60,000-strong Christian
Armenian community, has also shone a spotlight on religious intolerance
in this mainly Muslim but secular country.
Last April, three Protestants — two Turks and a German — had their
throats slit at a Bible publishing house. Several Christian clergymen
have been attacked, most recently an Italian priest in his church in
the Aegean port of Izmir.
Dink was killed outside his Istanbul office in January 2007 by an
ultra-nationalist teenage gunman. He had received death threats from
far-right groups over his calls for Turkey to accept its role in the
mass killings of Armenians in 1915.
The trial of the gunman and 18 others has taken on greater urgency
since the recent arrests of another 29 people, including ex-army
officers, as part of a probe into a far-right gang said to be behind
a series of killings, including that of Dink.
The European Union, which Turkey aims to join, is also closely
following the Dink case.
"This stain must be wiped away for the sake of a Turkey in which people
are not tried or punished for their thoughts," said a statement of
Dink’s supporters, including writers, journalists and parliamentarians.
Demonstrators waved banners reading "Justice for Hrant".
"We consider it the minimum requisite to bring about a ruling that
reaches all the people and organisations that are behind this case,"
the statement said.
Many Turks suspect the involvement of a "deep state" in Dink’s
murder. "Deep state" is code for ultra-nationalists allegedly operating
in the security forces and state bureaucracy who are willing to break
the law for political aims.
Turkish media have chronicled a series of police lapses in the handling
of the Dink case which newspapers say suggest official attempts to
protect those who plotted the crime.
SUSPECT’S CLAIM
Kemal Aytac, a lawyer representing Dink’s widow Rakel, said one
suspect, who is believed to have provided the murder weapon, told the
court on Monday he had been taking orders from security personnel in
Istanbul and the Turkish capital Ankara.
"We don’t expect a verdict today and we have not testified yet,"
Aytac added.
Last month, in a separate case, police arrested ultra-nationalists
whom they suspect of plotting bombings and assassinations to sow
chaos in Turkey and help provoke a military takeover in 2009.
Prosecutors have declined to comment on the charges against the
29 suspects, but Turkish newspapers have said the gang, known as
"Ergenekon", was also probably behind Dink’s murder.
Dink was hated by Turkish nationalists for his stance on the sensitive
issue of the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World
War One. He had urged reconciliation between Turks and Armenians
based on an acceptance of past wrongs.
Dink had received a suspended jail sentence before his death under
article 301 of Turkey’s penal code, for insulting "Turkishness" in
his writings on the mass killings. The EU is demanding that Turkey
scrap or amend the article.
Up to 50 lawyers tried to attend Monday’s hearing, though only 17
were allowed into the courthouse. Security was tight, with police in
riot gear stationed at the courthouse entrance.