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DINK COMPENSATION APPEAL REMINDS COURT OF TURKISH SCANDAL
Today's Zaman
Aug 5 2011
Turkey
The defense deposition filed by the Interior Ministry to appeal
a compensation decision by the İstanbul court over the lack of
effective preventative measures taken in the case of slain journalist
Hrant Dink has created another embarrassment for the government.
According to a report that appeared in the Armenian Agos newspaper,
lawyers for the Interior Ministry filed an appeal to the decision
by the İstanbul 10th District Court in which it found the Ministry
negligent in the murder of Dink and awarded TL 100,000 in compensation
to his brothers, Hosrof and Yervant Dink. One of the arguments
presented in the appeal was that the Dink family would "have an
increase in wealth for no reason at all." It also argued that the
family should seek compensation from the murderer or the people who
conspired to have him killed, and not from the Ministry which is not
a defendant in the case.
The arguments recalled the scandalous Turkish state defense in
Dink's infamous trial for "insulting Turkishness," which caused much
embarrassment to the government. The official defense, which was
presented to the European Court of Human Rights in November 2009,
cited the case of a neo-Nazi leader in Europe while defending Dink's
trial under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). The Foreign
Ministry said the Turkish statement to the court was simply based on
"legal and technical elements" and repeated legal arguments contained
in the laws that were in affect at the time of the ruling and dismissed
comments that Turkey was attempting to legitimize Dink's murder. But
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu later claimed he regretted the
defense, and Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin said Dink's case cannot
be compared to that of Michael Kuhnen, the leader of a German neo-Nazi
movement who was convicted of denying the Holocaust and who threatened
to eliminate those who tried to stop him.
In an apparent rejection of the official defense of the Turkish state
in the Dink case, President Gul earlier said that Dink was killed
due to a lack of precautionary measures to ensure his safety. Dink,
a Turkish journalist of Armenian descent, was shot to death by a
teenage assailant in January 2007.
Today's Zaman
Aug 5 2011
Turkey
The defense deposition filed by the Interior Ministry to appeal
a compensation decision by the İstanbul court over the lack of
effective preventative measures taken in the case of slain journalist
Hrant Dink has created another embarrassment for the government.
According to a report that appeared in the Armenian Agos newspaper,
lawyers for the Interior Ministry filed an appeal to the decision
by the İstanbul 10th District Court in which it found the Ministry
negligent in the murder of Dink and awarded TL 100,000 in compensation
to his brothers, Hosrof and Yervant Dink. One of the arguments
presented in the appeal was that the Dink family would "have an
increase in wealth for no reason at all." It also argued that the
family should seek compensation from the murderer or the people who
conspired to have him killed, and not from the Ministry which is not
a defendant in the case.
The arguments recalled the scandalous Turkish state defense in
Dink's infamous trial for "insulting Turkishness," which caused much
embarrassment to the government. The official defense, which was
presented to the European Court of Human Rights in November 2009,
cited the case of a neo-Nazi leader in Europe while defending Dink's
trial under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). The Foreign
Ministry said the Turkish statement to the court was simply based on
"legal and technical elements" and repeated legal arguments contained
in the laws that were in affect at the time of the ruling and dismissed
comments that Turkey was attempting to legitimize Dink's murder. But
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu later claimed he regretted the
defense, and Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin said Dink's case cannot
be compared to that of Michael Kuhnen, the leader of a German neo-Nazi
movement who was convicted of denying the Holocaust and who threatened
to eliminate those who tried to stop him.
In an apparent rejection of the official defense of the Turkish state
in the Dink case, President Gul earlier said that Dink was killed
due to a lack of precautionary measures to ensure his safety. Dink,
a Turkish journalist of Armenian descent, was shot to death by a
teenage assailant in January 2007.