ERGENEKON CROSSED DINK’S PATH MANY TIMES BEFORE MURDER

Today’s Zaman
May 13 2010
Turkey

Lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz, who is a suspect in the Ergenekon trial, has
been named as one of the potential Ergenekon suspects implicated in
the Dink assassination.

The revelation of strong links between several defendants in the
Ergenekon case and suspects in the killing of Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink, who was fatally shot by an ultranationalist
teenager outside the Agos weekly in 2007, recalls past cases when
Dink was challenged by Ergenekon members.

A report sent by the Ä°stanbul Police Department to the court
hearing the Dink case said six defendants in the trial of Ergenekon,
a terrorist organization whose members stand accused of planning to
overthrow the government by staging a coup, had telephone conversations
with defendants in the Dink case prior to Dink’s murder. According
to the report, these Ergenekon suspects include Veli Kucuk, Kemal
Kerincsiz, Mustafa Levent GöktaÅ~_, Muzaffer Tekin and Erbay
Colakoglu. Ergenekon defendants followed Dink before his murder,
as well.

In 2004 Dink published an article in Agos stating that Sabiha Gökcen,
the adopted daughter of the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal
Ataturk, and Turkey’s first female pilot, was an Armenian orphan. The
article was later reported by the mainstream Hurriyet daily, which
exaggerated the story. Later, he appeared in court to defend himself
in several cases filed against him for violating Article 301 of the
Turkish Penal Code (TCK), which outlaws "insulting Turkishness."

The first mass protest against Dink was staged in front of the Agos
daily by the Ulku Ocakları, a far-right youth group, calling for
Dink to either "love it or leave it [Turkey]." The head of the group,
Levent Temiz, said at the demonstration that Dink was "from now on
the target of our hate and anger, he is our target." Temiz is also
currently an Ergenekon suspect.

Another campaign was launched by Kerincsiz against Dink in 2005, when
the journalist was given a six-month suspended sentence for insulting
Turkishness. Ergenekon suspects and followers were also at the first
hearing of Dink’s trial for attempting to influence the judiciary
after he commented on the ruling. The pro-Ergenekon group in the
courtroom attempted to attack Dink and shouted "treacherous" at him.

The biggest protest against Dink, who began to receive death threats,
was at a hearing on May 16, 2006. A group of 50 individuals in the
courtroom again attempted to attack Dink and threw coins and cigarette
lighters at Dink’s lawyers. Kerincsiz, who was among the group, is
remembered as shouting at Dink, "Enough is enough, shut up," when Dink
was speaking. The group continued to insult Dink and spit at his face,
shouting: "Come and see some pure Turkish blood! Look whose blood is
purer! The government is protecting you now, but who will do so later?"

Dink’s lawyer, Erdal Dogan, has also recently announced that Dink
had received death threats from key Ergenekon suspect Kucuk. Dogan
said he was more uneasy over Kucuk’s threats than from others.

Dink’s brother, Orhan Dink, also confirmed that his brother was a
target of Kucuk and Kerincsiz’s group. "My brother had told me that
‘Kucuk came to the hearing and caused unease.’ We are a kind of people
who know this country’s history of democracy well. We know who Kucuk
and Kerincsiz are," he said. Orhan Dink also said that the slain
journalist had told him that he was a target of these groups. "This is
certain. He was aware of the group of Kucuk and Kerincsiz. When Kucuk
took the stage, we understood how serious the situation was. We thought
[Dink] would be shot after Kucuk’s appearance, and he was," he adds.

Retired Gen. Kucuk is considered one of the most important suspects
in the Ergenekon trial. He is suspected to be the founder of a
clandestine, unofficial and largely illegitimate intelligence unit
in the gendarmerie, the Gendarmerie Intelligence and Anti-Terrorism
Organization (JÄ°TEM). JÄ°TEM is believed to be one of the tools of
the Ergenekon gang.