Reuters, UK
July 20 2008
Turkish security officials face Dink murder inquiry
Sun Jul 20, 2008 4:41pm EDT
ISTANBUL, July 20 (Reuters) – Two Turkish security officials are
facing investigation over last year’s murder of Turkish Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink, state-run news agency Anatolian said on Sunday.
The pair, named only as Colonel A.O. and Captain M.Y., are suspected
of "hiding information and failing to act" on reports Dink was in
danger, Anatolian quoted Trabzon governor Nuri Okutan as saying.
The probe is one of the first into allegations that police failed to
act on a tip off about the threat to Dink, who was shot dead outside
his Istanbul office in January 2007.
According to the court indictment, one of the defendants in the Dink
case acted as a police informer and told police of plans to
assassinate the editor in the months before the murder.
Dink received numerous death threats due to articles urging Turkey to
accept responsibility for its part in the mass killings of Armenians
by Ottoman Turks and Kurds in 1915.
The investigation comes as the military is under increasing scrutiny
following a wave of detentions and arrests that have targeted several
serving and retired army officers for allegedly planning a coup to
topple to ruling AK Party. (Editing by Jon Boyle)