Today’s Zaman, Turkey
July 21 2008

Governor approves gendarmerie probe over Dink murder

Trabzon Governor Nuri Okutan has given permission to launch an
investigation into two gendarmerie officers to ascertain whether their
alleged dereliction of duty played a role in the murder of
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

A probe into the Dink assassination revealed that a group of
ultranationalist youths were behind the murder. Strong evidence
suggested that some members of the group had ties to the police
department in northern Trabzon, the hometown of the conspirators. Some
gendarmerie officers later confirmed that they had been tipped off
about the plot to kill Dink before the murder was committed.
Suspicious of contradictory statements by former head of the Trabzon
Gendarmerie Command Col. Ali Ã-z and intelligence chief
Capt. Metin Yıldız, who previously refused to cooperate
with the investigation, inspectors from the Interior Ministry last
week asked Governor Okutan to grant them authorization to launch an
investigation into Ã-z and Yıldız, along with five
gendarmerie officers who allegedly had knowledge of the plot to murder
Dink months before the incident occurred. Okutan approved their
request yesterday.

21 July 2008, Monday