Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb. 26, 2008

Malatya, Dink murders still clouded in mystery

Turkey saw hearings for two separate but related crimes yesterday as
the third trial in the murder of an ethnic Armenian journalist in
Ýstanbul and the suspects of the murders of three Bible publishers in
Malatya resumed yesterday, but neither trial has been a source of
encouragement for those hoping to see justice done in the end.

The two cases seem to be inherently related in many respects. In both
cases, the police have been accused of trying to obscure evidence to
protect the suspects and even of having links to the assailants. In
the case of Hrant Dink, an Armenian Turkish journalist, one of the
prime suspects is a known ex-police informant. The European Union and
international rights groups are monitoring both cases closely.

With regard to the previous hearing in the trial of the Dink murder
suspects, "It’s clear that police officers and security services knew
about the plans of these guys, but they didn’t act," said Joost
Lagendijk, the co-chairman of the Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary
Commission.

Although both murders initially appeared to be hate crimes, an
investigation into a neo-nationalist gang known as Ergenekon, with
access to power centers in the military and state apparatus, showed
that the group might be behind both of the attacks, intended to
create chaos in the country and lay the groundwork for an eventual
coup d’état to overthrow the government.

Security was tight outside the Beþiktaþ courthouse ahead of the trial
of Dink’s murder suspects. Police put up barriers around the building
and set up checkpoints to search individuals entering the building as
well as check their identification documents.

Civilian automobiles were not allowed to enter the courthouse’s
parking lot.

Dink was gunned down in broad daylight on Jan. 19, 2007 in front of
the headquarters of bilingual Armenian weekly Agos, where he was
editor-in-chief. Following Dink’s murder, many reports suggested that
the police were tipped off about the planned assassination more than
once prior to his execution yet failed to prevent it.

A group of protestors calling themselves "Friends of Hrant" gathered
at Beþiktaþ Square ahead of the trial. The group, holding posters of
Dink and chanting slogans demanding justice for the slain journalist,
also issued a statement to the press. "We want something very simple.
We want something that nobody would object to. We want justice," said
singer Þevval Sam, reading the statement on behalf of the group.

The group reiterated the demands of the Dink family and the attorneys
representing the plaintiffs, who have been saying that the murder has
not been properly investigated. The co-plaintiff lawyers say some of
the evidence has been hidden or destroyed.

They have also claimed that information vital to the course of the
investigation had been held back by the police from the prosecution
and the court in what seems to be an attempt to protect the suspects.

Nineteen suspects, including Dink’s suspected killer, 17-year-old
O.S., and an ultranationalist youth charged with planning the crime,
went on trial in July of 2007 for organizing the murder at the 14th
High Criminal Court in Ýstanbul’s Beþiktaþ district.

The trial is being held behind closed doors because O.S. was a minor
at the time of the murder.

Since the third hearing in the trial, held on Feb. 12, all sessions
in the trial are being recorded by cameras set up in the courtroom, a
first in Turkish judicial history. The implementation began when
attorneys requested audiovisual recording, citing attempts of
security officers to obscure evidence during the second hearing of
the trial.

During the second hearing of the trial’s suspects, O.S. expressed
"regret" for the killing in his testimony.

"I was forced to do this job. I shot Dink out of fear without even
understanding how it happened. I was at my uncle’s place when I came
to my senses. I could not sleep the entire night. I regret it; I
didn’t know he had a family. I wouldn’t have done it if I had known,"
he said in his testimony.

Malatya case adjourned until March

The third hearing of the trial in the murder of three Christians, one
of them a German citizen, in the eastern Turkish province of Malatya
last year convened at the Malatya 3rd High Criminal Court at 9 a.m.
yesterday.

Lawyers in the case demanded that the hearing be recorded with visual
and audio devices, a demand the court rejected. After the rejection
of the request, the lawyers this time asked that the judge be
removed, saying that the court’s impartiality and independence was
now jeopardized by the denial.

The court adjourned the case until March 17, 2008 to review the
request.

Malatya victim Tilman Ekkehart Geske’s wife, Suzanne Geske, and
Necati Aydýn’s wife, Þemse Aydýn, as well as chief suspect Emre
Günaydýn’s father, Mustafa Günaydýn, attended the hearing.

The suspects were brought to the courthouse from the Malatya prison
by special security units.

The five suspects currently under arrest are being charged with
setting up an armed terrorist organization, committing more than one
homicide as part of the activities of the terrorist organization,
trespassing and aiding and abetting an armed terrorist organization.
Günaydýn is additionally being charged with having masterminded the
murders. The prosecutor is seeking three life sentences for each of
the five suspects. The other two are facing charges of aiding and
abetting an armed terrorist organization.

Murders at Zirve Publishing House

On April 18, 2007, Christian Turks Necati Aydýn and Uður Yüksel and
Christian German national Tilman Geske were tied to their chairs,
stabbed and tortured at the Zirve Publishing House before their
throats were slit. The publishing house they worked for printed
Bibles and Christian literature. The killings drew international
condemnation and added to Western concerns about whether Turkey can
protect its religious minorities.