The New Anatolian, Turkey
Jan 27 2007
Extreme parties point finger at foreign circles for Dink murder
The New Anatolian / Ankara
27 January 2007
Two extreme parties of opposite poles on Friday reiterated a
much-uttered claim over the murder of journalist Hrant Dink, which
blames the assassination on international circles.
Ultranationalist Grand Unity Party (BBP) deputy leader Edip Ozbas
claimed that Westerners encouraged the killing, while the Labor Party
(IP), a socialist party which has recently begun to employ an
ultranationalist approach, blamed the U.S. and NATO for the murder.
Ozbas said Dink’s murder enabled certain circles to reveal the poison
they had amassed against Turkey. "We believe that the independent
judiciary will shed light onto the incident, but we know that the
primary power behind the Dink murder and all others are Westerners
who put pressure on Turkey to adopt European Union acquis."
"Those who now unleash allegations against the BBP and its leader
Yazicioglu for his stance will have to account for their claims
soon," said the party official also expressing their willingness to
fight for Turkish Penal Code (TCK) Article 301 in the face of
Westerners who want to see it annulled.
Another BBP member, Okkes Sendiller, condemned people who reopened
the Article 301 debate, in a written statement that also criticized
Cabinet ministers and Nobel Prize-winning Turkish author Orhan Pamuk
for comments criticizing the article.
"This nation has the right to curse at those who are trying to
realize a regulation to enable cursing at Turkish national values,"
he said. He added that Pamuk overstepped the line once more with
calls to lift Article 301.
Sendiller also criticized Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit
to offer condolences to Turkish Armenian Patriarch Mesrob II
Mutafyan.
IP: Culprit is US, NATO
IP leader Dogu Perincek’s target was more distant compared to that of
the BBP; he claimed that the U.S. and NATO — branding it a crony of
the U.S. — engineered Dink’s murder.
Perincek, in a letter to Mutafyan, claimed that the assassination was
part of a bigger plan to spark turmoil and chaos in the country.
He also linked the killing to an Armenian genocide bill about to be
debated in the U.S. House of Representatives.
He also criticized the funeral ceremony for the journalist, which he
claimed was turned into a demonstration against Turkey, and asked
Mutafyan why he failed to prevent this.
"We expect you, the leaders of the Turkey’s Armenian community, not
to guide the bullets targeting Turkey but to sweat along with all
members of this country to prevent foreign powers from dissolving
Turkey," the IP leader said.