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ERGENEKON PLANNED TO ATTACK AGOS AFTER DINK ASSASSINATION
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Sept 9 2011
A suspect in an ongoing investigation into a gang accused of
plotting to overthrow the government has said that the group, known
as Ergenekon, had plans to attack the office of the Armenian language
biweekly Agos, shortly after Agos' former editor-in-chief Hrant Dink
was assassinated.
Ergenekon suspect Bedirhan Å~^inal testified in a cross-examination
on Thursday that the Ergenekon gang, including Å~^inal himself,
had been planning to attack Agos's offices after Armenian-Turkish
journalist Dink was assassinated in January 2007.
Imprisoned after attacking the Cumhuriyet daily headquarters in
Ä°stanbul's Å~^iÅ~_li district with Molotov cocktails in 2008,
Å~^inal claimed they were preparing to attack other Agos employees
in 2008 following Dink's murder. However, Å~^inal stressed that they
had to give up the plan because of the extensive security measures
that were taken in the neighborhood after Dink's murder, which was
carried out in front of Agos's building.
In his testimony, Å~^inal added that people who allegedly incited
him to murder had not kept their promises. He stated in his former
testimony that there were some the people urging him on who had offered
some money to persuade him to attack Cumhuriyet headquarters and that
he had claimed that the people inciting him had promised to bail him
out of jail in three or four months, but stressed that he was still in
prison after four years. When Å~^inal was asked who the people inciting
him were, he said that they were a priest and some businessmen from
Ä°stanbul whose names he said he did not know. Å~^inal added that he
was allegedly introduced to these men by policemen.
Dink, the editor-in-chief of Armenian-Turkish newspaper Agos, was
gunned down outside his office in Ä°stanbul in broad daylight on Jan.
19, 2007. The hitman, Ogun Samast, was captured roughly one day after
the murder. Other suspects, including Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel,
were aprehended in the following days on charges of soliciting Samast
for Dink's murder. The murder shocked Turkey, and the ensuing trial
became mired in controversy with Dink's family and human rights
activists arguing that links between suspects in the case and the
real masterminds of the murder, suspected to be in the military and
police force, were not sufficiently investigated.
From: Baghdasarian
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Sept 9 2011
A suspect in an ongoing investigation into a gang accused of
plotting to overthrow the government has said that the group, known
as Ergenekon, had plans to attack the office of the Armenian language
biweekly Agos, shortly after Agos' former editor-in-chief Hrant Dink
was assassinated.
Ergenekon suspect Bedirhan Å~^inal testified in a cross-examination
on Thursday that the Ergenekon gang, including Å~^inal himself,
had been planning to attack Agos's offices after Armenian-Turkish
journalist Dink was assassinated in January 2007.
Imprisoned after attacking the Cumhuriyet daily headquarters in
Ä°stanbul's Å~^iÅ~_li district with Molotov cocktails in 2008,
Å~^inal claimed they were preparing to attack other Agos employees
in 2008 following Dink's murder. However, Å~^inal stressed that they
had to give up the plan because of the extensive security measures
that were taken in the neighborhood after Dink's murder, which was
carried out in front of Agos's building.
In his testimony, Å~^inal added that people who allegedly incited
him to murder had not kept their promises. He stated in his former
testimony that there were some the people urging him on who had offered
some money to persuade him to attack Cumhuriyet headquarters and that
he had claimed that the people inciting him had promised to bail him
out of jail in three or four months, but stressed that he was still in
prison after four years. When Å~^inal was asked who the people inciting
him were, he said that they were a priest and some businessmen from
Ä°stanbul whose names he said he did not know. Å~^inal added that he
was allegedly introduced to these men by policemen.
Dink, the editor-in-chief of Armenian-Turkish newspaper Agos, was
gunned down outside his office in Ä°stanbul in broad daylight on Jan.
19, 2007. The hitman, Ogun Samast, was captured roughly one day after
the murder. Other suspects, including Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel,
were aprehended in the following days on charges of soliciting Samast
for Dink's murder. The murder shocked Turkey, and the ensuing trial
became mired in controversy with Dink's family and human rights
activists arguing that links between suspects in the case and the
real masterminds of the murder, suspected to be in the military and
police force, were not sufficiently investigated.
From: Baghdasarian