PATRIARCH: DINK MURDER STILL MYSTERY
Today’s Zaman, Turkey
March 5 2007
The patriarch of Turkey’s Armenians, Mesrob II, lamented yesterday
that the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink has not
been fully resolved, as mourners gathered at an Ýstanbul church to
commemorate him.
Mourners laid flowers at Hrant Dink’s grave on the 40th day after
his killing.
Dink, the editor of the bilingual Agos daily, was gunned down on Jan.
19 outside his office in downtown Ýstanbul. A 17-year-old suspect,
O.S., was arrested after the murder and confessed to the killing.
Although the unemployed, secondary school graduate O.S. was quickly
captured along with several others believed to be involved in the
killing, public suspicions remained regarding the real motives behind
the murder that shocked Turkey and talk of a shadowy "deep state"
as a potential accomplice in the killing has resurfaced.
Mesrob II, speaking at a ceremony to commemorate Dink on the 40th day
of his death, said shedding full light on the murder would strengthen
the environment of peace in Turkey.
"It is extremely saddening and thought-provoking that the real inciters
of this assassination have not been found over the past 40 days,"
he said at the ceremony at Santa Maria Armenian church in Kumkapý,
Ýstanbul. "Prompt clarification of this murder is essential for the
atmosphere of peace as well as confidence in security institutions."
"This investigation is not going well," said journalist Cengiz Candar,
who was one of the mourners attending the ceremony. "It seems the
authorities will not pursue this determinedly due to the approaching
elections but this means we are heading to a point that poses dangers
for Turkey’s international image and internal peace."
Dink’s widow Rakel, his daughters, novelist Elif Þafak, Þiþli
Mayor Mustafa Sarýgul and journalists Ali Bayramoðlu, Ayþe Unal
and Oral Calýþlar, all attended yesterday’s ceremony. The tradition
commemorating the dead on the 40th day of their death is shared by
Muslim Turks as well.
–Boundary_(ID_KJvWc0lIL+N2X6DX/A321g)–