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ANKARA: Dink Murder Probe May Expand To Inclu

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  • ANKARA: Dink Murder Probe May Expand To Inclu

    DINK MURDER PROBE MAY EXPAND TO INCLUDE 'PRE-WARNED' COLONEL

    Today's Zaman
    July 19 2008
    Turkey

    Inspectors from the Interior Ministry investigating the murder of
    Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink have requested permission to
    launch an inquiry into several individuals claimed to have prior
    information about the plot to assassinate Dink, reported Milliyet
    daily yesterday.

    According to Milliyet, upon direction by Interior Minister BeÅ~_ir
    Atalay earlier this month, ministry inspectors launched a preliminary
    inquiry into the assassination of Dink, who was shot dead in broad
    daylight outside the office of his newspaper, Agos, in Ä°stanbul on
    Jan. 19, 2007.

    Suspicious of contradictory statements by former commander of the
    Trabzon Gendarmerie Command Col. Ali Oz and intelligence chief
    Capt. Metin Yıldız, who previously refused to cooperate with the
    investigation, inspectors asked Trabzon Governor Nuri Okutan earlier
    this week to grant them authorization to launch an investigation into
    Oz and Yıldız, along with five gendarmerie officers who allegedly
    had knowledge of the plot to murder Dink months before the incident
    occurred.

    An investigation in the wake of the Dink assassination revealed that
    a group of ultra-nationalist youths were behind the murder. Strong
    evidence suggested that some members of the group had ties with
    the police department in northern Trabzon, the hometown of the
    plotters. Some gendarmerie officers later confirmed that they had been
    tipped off about the plot to kill Dink before the murder was committed.

    Sgt. Maj. Okan Å~^. and Sgt. Veysel Å~^., who appeared in a Trabzon
    court in March on charges of dereliction of duty for failing to
    take the necessary measures to prevent Dink's death, confessed
    that they had been informed about the murder plot months before his
    assassination. "We wanted to share this information with Col. Oz,
    but he covered up the issue. He forced us to give false statements
    during the course of the investigation," they said.

    Oz, who was serving as the Bilecik provincial gendarmerie commander
    at the time of the murder, was removed from his position and sent to
    the Bursa Regional Command.

    Interior Ministry inspectors asked Oz and Yıldız about the
    allegations, and they replied that they "might have forgotten about
    being informed of the plot." However, the two had previously denied
    having prior knowledge of the plot.

    If permission is granted to the ministry inspectors, Oz, Yıldız and
    five gendarmerie officers will face a probe on suspicion of dereliction
    of duty for failing to act on warnings before the Dink murder.

    --Boundary_(ID_Nvfd5pUG6SRhKCoLVm1RXw)--
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