Trial begins in murder of Armenian journalist in Turkey
The Associated Press
Published: July 2, 2007
ISTANBUL, Turkey: More than six months after the killing of an ethnic
Armenian journalist, 18 suspects went on trial Monday in a case widely seen
as a test of whether the country’s judiciary will be able to investigate
allegations of official negligence in the slaying.
Hrant Dink was gunned down on Jan. 19 and his killing led to international
condemnation and debate within Turkey about free speech. Dink was hated by
hardline nationalists for describing the mass killings of Armenians early in
the last century as genocide.
The trial was taking place behind closed doors because the alleged teenage
gunman, Ogun Samast, is a minor.
But lawyers, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not
allowed to report details of the case, said two of the key suspects, Yasin
Hayal and Erhan Tuncel, claimed they worked for the security forces. The
alleged gunman had remained silent during the trial.
Critics accused authorities of failing to act on reports of a plot to kill
Dink, and it is unclear whether allegations that could potentially be
embarrassing for top officials will be explored in the trial.
Hayal, accused of providing gun and money to Samast, wrote some 20 letters
to court officials and police explaining his links to security forces,
according to his lawyer, Fuat Turgut.
"The police manipulated us, now they should protect us," Turgut quoted Hayal
as saying in his letters.
Tuncel, who is suspected of masterminding the killing, reportedly told the
court that he was paid by police for gathering intelligence, according to a
lawyer who attended Monday’s hearing.
Turkey had vowed a thorough investigation, and the governor and police chief
of the Black Sea city of Trabzon, the hometown of Samast, were removed from
office because of negligence. Some security officials who posed for
photographs with the gunman as he held a Turkish flag were also dismissed.
There has been no evidence that directly implicates any police or government
officials in the slaying of Dink outside his office.
Amnesty International, whose request to be an official observer in the case
was turned down by the court, called on the Turkish government to
investigate officials accused of negligence.
"If people within the state didn’t perform their duties correctly, then they
too have to be brought to justice," said Andrew Gardner, the organization’s
researcher in Turkey.
Many Turks are convinced that a so-called "deep state" – a network of state
agents or ex-officials, possibly with links to organized crime –
periodically targets reformists and other perceived enemies in the name of
nationalism.
"This trial will be a test of whether this quagmire will be dried up or
not," lawyer Kezban Hatemi, representing Dink’s family, told reporters
before the hearing Monday. "The indictment lacks evidence and there is a
need to find out real culprits."
Dink sought to encourage reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia. But he
was prosecuted under Article 301 of Turkey’s penal code, which bans insults
to Turkish identity, for his comments on the mass killings of Armenians by
Turks in the early 20th century.