Paylan Calls on Parliament to Investigate Dink Murder

ISTANBUL—Large crowds flocked to the former address of Turkish-Armenian weekly newspaper Agos in Istanbul on Friday to commemorate the late journalist Hrant Dink on the 11th anniversary of his assassination, reported the Hurriyet Daily Newspaper.

Dink was shot dead with three bullets on Jan. 19, 2007, at around 3 p.m. in front Agos’ then-headquarters.

On Thursday, Garo Paylan, an Armenian member of the Turkish Parliament representing the opposition People’s Democratic Party (HDP,) submitted a written proposal to the Turkish parliament calling for an investigating of the developments following Dink’s murder and preventing similar such acts.

He stressed that Hrant Dink was making efforts toward Turkey’s democratization as well as peoples’ solidarity and peace, according to information published on the HDP’s official website.

Every year since the assassination, mourners have attended a commemoration ceremony for him, laying carnations at the spot where he was killed. This year placards reading “Justice for Hrant” were attached to the former newspaper building.

Before the commemoration ceremony kicked off, police closed off the Haskargazi Street and side streets linking to it to traffic.

Police officers allowed people wishing to join the ceremony to enter through barricades, subjecting them to brief security searches.

Despite 11 years having passed, little progress has been made regarding Dink’s case.

Ogün Samast, who was aged 17 at the time of the shooting, was jailed for 23 years in 2011 for the killing. But speculation about the involvement of other groups inside and outside the state apparatus has persisted, and a number of slow-moving investigations are still ongoing.