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TURKISH PM'S APPROVAL AWAITED TO INVESTIGATE MIT ON DINK MURDER
Hurriyet Daily News
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=pm8217s-approval-is-awaited-to-investigate-mit-on-dink-murder-2010-08-13
Aug 13 2010
Turkey
This file photo shows a protest during the trial concerning the murder
of Hrant Dink, a Turkish journalist of Armenian origin. DHA photo
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has sent a request
to the Prime Ministry to investigate the National Intelligence
Organization, or MÄ°T, to determine whether they neglected to prevent
the assassination of journalist Hrant Dink. The request is likely to be
denied. Dink, a Turkish journalist of Armenian origin and the former
editor-in-chief of weekly Agos, was gunned down in broad daylight on
Jan. 19, 2007, in front of the offices of his bilingual publication.
The Prime Ministry sent a request to MÄ°T, which answered: "We do not
have data or documents on the Dink murder." The point that there have
been no documents on the murder forwarded to MÄ°T from other security
units was deliberately underlined in MÄ°T's reply, and the ministry
was sympathetic to not allowing MÄ°T to be questioned. The ministry's
response is currently on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's desk
waiting to be signed before being sent to the prosecution. Any legal
investigation of MÄ°T or its employees regarding actions done in the
line of duty needs approval from the Prime Ministry.
The Dink murder case has been repeatedly criticized by the family's
defense team over suspicions that the superiors of the triggermen
are being protected. Dink's defense team also argues that MÄ°T, the
police and the gendarmerie all knew Dink was going to be assassinated,
but took no action. The Investigation Committee of the Prime Ministry
has determined that Ramazan Akyurek, former chief of police in Trabzon
province, demonstrated negligence in failing to prevent the murder.
The evidence of negligence was offered as "not bringing the
intelligence reports by Yasin Hayal finding that Hrant Dink was
going to be murdered to the provincial security meetings headed
by the governor." Akyurek was later assigned to the head of police
intelligence and he was found to have hidden intelligence reports
regarding the assassinations planning.
Dink was called to the Istanbul Governor's Office in 2004, where
two MİT operatives warned him that reporting that Sabiha Göcmen,
the first female Turkish pilot, was Armenian could cause him trouble.
Nedim Å~^ener is the author of "Hrant Dink Cinayeti ve Ä°stihbarat
Yalanları" ("The Hrant Dink Murder and Intelligence Lies"). He
faced trial for "making targets of civil servants," "obtaining
secret documents" and "exposing secret documents" in his book but was
acquitted in June. Å~^ener won the Abdi Ä°pekci Journalism Award of
the Year in 2010 for his reporting of the Dink assassination.
From: A. Papazian
Hurriyet Daily News
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=pm8217s-approval-is-awaited-to-investigate-mit-on-dink-murder-2010-08-13
Aug 13 2010
Turkey
This file photo shows a protest during the trial concerning the murder
of Hrant Dink, a Turkish journalist of Armenian origin. DHA photo
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has sent a request
to the Prime Ministry to investigate the National Intelligence
Organization, or MÄ°T, to determine whether they neglected to prevent
the assassination of journalist Hrant Dink. The request is likely to be
denied. Dink, a Turkish journalist of Armenian origin and the former
editor-in-chief of weekly Agos, was gunned down in broad daylight on
Jan. 19, 2007, in front of the offices of his bilingual publication.
The Prime Ministry sent a request to MÄ°T, which answered: "We do not
have data or documents on the Dink murder." The point that there have
been no documents on the murder forwarded to MÄ°T from other security
units was deliberately underlined in MÄ°T's reply, and the ministry
was sympathetic to not allowing MÄ°T to be questioned. The ministry's
response is currently on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's desk
waiting to be signed before being sent to the prosecution. Any legal
investigation of MÄ°T or its employees regarding actions done in the
line of duty needs approval from the Prime Ministry.
The Dink murder case has been repeatedly criticized by the family's
defense team over suspicions that the superiors of the triggermen
are being protected. Dink's defense team also argues that MÄ°T, the
police and the gendarmerie all knew Dink was going to be assassinated,
but took no action. The Investigation Committee of the Prime Ministry
has determined that Ramazan Akyurek, former chief of police in Trabzon
province, demonstrated negligence in failing to prevent the murder.
The evidence of negligence was offered as "not bringing the
intelligence reports by Yasin Hayal finding that Hrant Dink was
going to be murdered to the provincial security meetings headed
by the governor." Akyurek was later assigned to the head of police
intelligence and he was found to have hidden intelligence reports
regarding the assassinations planning.
Dink was called to the Istanbul Governor's Office in 2004, where
two MİT operatives warned him that reporting that Sabiha Göcmen,
the first female Turkish pilot, was Armenian could cause him trouble.
Nedim Å~^ener is the author of "Hrant Dink Cinayeti ve Ä°stihbarat
Yalanları" ("The Hrant Dink Murder and Intelligence Lies"). He
faced trial for "making targets of civil servants," "obtaining
secret documents" and "exposing secret documents" in his book but was
acquitted in June. Å~^ener won the Abdi Ä°pekci Journalism Award of
the Year in 2010 for his reporting of the Dink assassination.
From: A. Papazian