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ÝSTANBUL POLICE FAILED TO PROTECT DINK, CLAIMS TRABZON POLICE CHIEF
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Feb 29 2008
In his testimony to a parliamentary commission the chief of Trabzon's
police force has accused the Ýstanbul Police Department of having
failed to prevent the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink.
Dink was shot dead in broad daylight outside his newspaper, the
Agos weekly, in Ýstanbul on Jan. 19, 2007, by an ultra-nationalist
teenager. The ensuing investigation revealed that the police had been
tipped off to plans to murder the journalist. Currently 19 suspects
are facing trial in the murder case. A majority of the suspects,
including the hit man, are from Trabzon, where the police say they
had informed the Ýstanbul police about the plot to kill Dink on more
than one occasion.
In addition to having ignored the tip-off about the plot, lawyers
representing the plaintiff side are accusing the police of destroying
crucial evidence to protect some of the suspects, among who is an
ex-police informant.
Trabzon Police Chief Ramazan Akyurek testified on Wednesday before a
parliamentary commission investigating the Dink murder, stating that
Trabzon police had warned the Ýstanbul police of the assassination.
"I am not blaming anyone for anything. Everybody has to do their own
job. But if it was me, I would have ensured that Dink was safe. I
would have paid attention to this piece of intelligence [that the
Trabzon police passed on] and done what was necessary. I have done my
part. Other agencies should have also done what they needed to do,"
he told the commission.
Ýstanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah said last year that his
department had dismissed the information from Trabzon because it had a
"low" emergency coding.
--Boundary_(ID_dbVH6bO91mHeeJ8ZRnGvYQ)--
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Feb 29 2008
In his testimony to a parliamentary commission the chief of Trabzon's
police force has accused the Ýstanbul Police Department of having
failed to prevent the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink.
Dink was shot dead in broad daylight outside his newspaper, the
Agos weekly, in Ýstanbul on Jan. 19, 2007, by an ultra-nationalist
teenager. The ensuing investigation revealed that the police had been
tipped off to plans to murder the journalist. Currently 19 suspects
are facing trial in the murder case. A majority of the suspects,
including the hit man, are from Trabzon, where the police say they
had informed the Ýstanbul police about the plot to kill Dink on more
than one occasion.
In addition to having ignored the tip-off about the plot, lawyers
representing the plaintiff side are accusing the police of destroying
crucial evidence to protect some of the suspects, among who is an
ex-police informant.
Trabzon Police Chief Ramazan Akyurek testified on Wednesday before a
parliamentary commission investigating the Dink murder, stating that
Trabzon police had warned the Ýstanbul police of the assassination.
"I am not blaming anyone for anything. Everybody has to do their own
job. But if it was me, I would have ensured that Dink was safe. I
would have paid attention to this piece of intelligence [that the
Trabzon police passed on] and done what was necessary. I have done my
part. Other agencies should have also done what they needed to do,"
he told the commission.
Ýstanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah said last year that his
department had dismissed the information from Trabzon because it had a
"low" emergency coding.
--Boundary_(ID_dbVH6bO91mHeeJ8ZRnGvYQ)--