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Today's Zaman , Turkey
Jan 22 2012
Dink case investigator accused of suspected links to Ergenekon
22 January 2012 / TODAY'S ZAMAN, Ä°STANBUL
A lawyer representing the family of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink claimed police chief Selim Kutkan, who conducted the
investigation into Dink's murder, has links to Ergenekon and accused
him of leaking information to the terrorist organization and
spoliation of evidence in the case.
Lawyer Ä°smail Cem Halavut claimed that Kutkan, former head of the
Security General Directorate counterterrorism department, gave
information related to Ergenekon to Ergenekon suspects and spoiled
evidence in Dink's case to the advantage of those suspects, raising
suspicions that Ergenekon is responsible for Dink's murder.
Ergenekon is a clandestine terrorist organization charged with
attempting to overthrow the government.
Noting that Dink family lawyers requested a hearing on evidence
relating to Kutkan in 2009, Halavut claimed the police officer should
be held responsible for intentionally covering up Ergenekon links to
the murder and other suspicious issues, such as destroying videotape
recordings at an Akbank branch near the site of the murder.
The police officer was dismissed from his post in the counterterrorism
department in 2010 after Turkish intelligence institutions intercepted
a phone conversation in which he gave an early warning to Ergenekon
suspects, journalist Adem Yavuz Arslan claimed in his 2011 book.
Dink's brother Orhan Dink was quoted by the Vatan daily on Saturday as
saying, `Ergenekon squealers have conducted the Dink investigation,'
referring to Kutkan.
Another Dink family lawyer, Fethiye Ã?etin, was quoted by the Turkish
press in 2011 as stating, `Erhan Tuncel [the controversial Trabzon
police informant who was acquitted of all charges regarding the Dink
murder last week] has stated that Kutkan persuaded him not to give
testimony in the 2007 investigations,' reinforcing recent claims about
the police officer regarding the spoliation of evidence.
The Ä°stanbul 14th High Criminal Court's verdict on Tuesday convicted
Yasin Hayal, a major suspect in the killing of Dink, of instigating
the murder and sentenced him to life in prison, while another
suspected instigator, Tuncel, was acquitted by the court. `We
acquitted the suspects of organized crime charges. This ruling does
not mean there was no organization involved. This means there was not
enough evidence to prove the actions of this organization,' the
embattled judge said.
Meanwhile, Eda Salman, Hayal's lawyer also claimed the murder was the
job of an organization, but said the court should not be accused due
to its ruling. `The court ordered an investigation to be launched into
the individuals with suspected links to Ergenekon. Whether those
investigations launched or not is not the court's responsibility.'
Ergenekon, Sledgehammer and Cage plan links stated in plea to Dink verdict
A Turkish prosecutor who conducted the investigation into the
assassination of Dink prepared a plea to the Dink verdict, stating
that Ergenekon, Sledgehammer and the Cage plan -- which constitutes
the core of the coup attempt allegations to foment chaos in Turkey --
have links to Dink's assassination.
Prosecutor Hikmet Usta collected all allegations of links between the
coup plotters to the assassination that were revealed during the
investigation, including:
*Dink was several times threatened by Veli Küçük, considered one of
the most important suspects in the trial against Ergenekon, Dink's
lawyer Erdal DoÄ?an said, right after the journalist's assassination,
in televised and written interviews with the Turkish media.
*Kemal Kerinçsiz, an ultranationalist lawyer and former prosecutor in
the Dink murder case, who was taken into custody on links with
Ergenekon in 2008, was heard saying in an intercepted phone
conversation with Küçük that Dink prosecutors did not let Ogün Samast,
Tuncel and Hayal -- arrested for committing or ordering Dink's
assassination -- say what they knew about the Dink case.
*In 2004, Dink published an article in the Agos weekly claiming that
Sabiha Gökçen, the adopted daughter of the founder of modern Turkey,
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and Turkey's first female pilot, was an
Armenian orphan. Among a group that threatened Dink in the Ä°stanbul
Mayor's office over the article was Ã-zel Yılmaz, a former National
Intelligence Organization (MÄ°T) official who is currently an Ergenekon
suspect. This happened on Jan. 12, 2007, one week ahead of Dink's
assassination.
*In an action plan document codenamed `Orak' (Hook) that belongs to
the Sledgehammer files, Dink appears among targets in the `anti-coup
Armenian press,' which also included Etyen Mahçupyan and Sevan
NiÅ?anyan.
*In the indictment on a document known as the Cage plan, which plots
to assassinate non-Muslim community leaders, allegedly prepared by a
group in the military, the assassination is dubbed an `operation.'
Justice Minister: Dink assassins are coup stagers
Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin criticized the links between coup
plotters and the Dink murder case in a Justice and Development Party
(AK Party) meeting in Ä°stanbul on Sunday.
`The Dink assassins are the same people as the coup stagers. The
assassination belongs to the same plan, which has made many other
similar attempts in Turkey's history, including the Sept. 6-7 events
[targeting the Greek-Turkish population in 1955] and the massacres
committed by groups fomenting chaos in MaraÅ?, Sivas and Ã?orum right
before the Sept. 12, 1980 coup,' Ergin stated, emphasizing the need
for Turkey to face its past.
From: A. Papazian
Jan 22 2012
Dink case investigator accused of suspected links to Ergenekon
22 January 2012 / TODAY'S ZAMAN, Ä°STANBUL
A lawyer representing the family of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink claimed police chief Selim Kutkan, who conducted the
investigation into Dink's murder, has links to Ergenekon and accused
him of leaking information to the terrorist organization and
spoliation of evidence in the case.
Lawyer Ä°smail Cem Halavut claimed that Kutkan, former head of the
Security General Directorate counterterrorism department, gave
information related to Ergenekon to Ergenekon suspects and spoiled
evidence in Dink's case to the advantage of those suspects, raising
suspicions that Ergenekon is responsible for Dink's murder.
Ergenekon is a clandestine terrorist organization charged with
attempting to overthrow the government.
Noting that Dink family lawyers requested a hearing on evidence
relating to Kutkan in 2009, Halavut claimed the police officer should
be held responsible for intentionally covering up Ergenekon links to
the murder and other suspicious issues, such as destroying videotape
recordings at an Akbank branch near the site of the murder.
The police officer was dismissed from his post in the counterterrorism
department in 2010 after Turkish intelligence institutions intercepted
a phone conversation in which he gave an early warning to Ergenekon
suspects, journalist Adem Yavuz Arslan claimed in his 2011 book.
Dink's brother Orhan Dink was quoted by the Vatan daily on Saturday as
saying, `Ergenekon squealers have conducted the Dink investigation,'
referring to Kutkan.
Another Dink family lawyer, Fethiye Ã?etin, was quoted by the Turkish
press in 2011 as stating, `Erhan Tuncel [the controversial Trabzon
police informant who was acquitted of all charges regarding the Dink
murder last week] has stated that Kutkan persuaded him not to give
testimony in the 2007 investigations,' reinforcing recent claims about
the police officer regarding the spoliation of evidence.
The Ä°stanbul 14th High Criminal Court's verdict on Tuesday convicted
Yasin Hayal, a major suspect in the killing of Dink, of instigating
the murder and sentenced him to life in prison, while another
suspected instigator, Tuncel, was acquitted by the court. `We
acquitted the suspects of organized crime charges. This ruling does
not mean there was no organization involved. This means there was not
enough evidence to prove the actions of this organization,' the
embattled judge said.
Meanwhile, Eda Salman, Hayal's lawyer also claimed the murder was the
job of an organization, but said the court should not be accused due
to its ruling. `The court ordered an investigation to be launched into
the individuals with suspected links to Ergenekon. Whether those
investigations launched or not is not the court's responsibility.'
Ergenekon, Sledgehammer and Cage plan links stated in plea to Dink verdict
A Turkish prosecutor who conducted the investigation into the
assassination of Dink prepared a plea to the Dink verdict, stating
that Ergenekon, Sledgehammer and the Cage plan -- which constitutes
the core of the coup attempt allegations to foment chaos in Turkey --
have links to Dink's assassination.
Prosecutor Hikmet Usta collected all allegations of links between the
coup plotters to the assassination that were revealed during the
investigation, including:
*Dink was several times threatened by Veli Küçük, considered one of
the most important suspects in the trial against Ergenekon, Dink's
lawyer Erdal DoÄ?an said, right after the journalist's assassination,
in televised and written interviews with the Turkish media.
*Kemal Kerinçsiz, an ultranationalist lawyer and former prosecutor in
the Dink murder case, who was taken into custody on links with
Ergenekon in 2008, was heard saying in an intercepted phone
conversation with Küçük that Dink prosecutors did not let Ogün Samast,
Tuncel and Hayal -- arrested for committing or ordering Dink's
assassination -- say what they knew about the Dink case.
*In 2004, Dink published an article in the Agos weekly claiming that
Sabiha Gökçen, the adopted daughter of the founder of modern Turkey,
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and Turkey's first female pilot, was an
Armenian orphan. Among a group that threatened Dink in the Ä°stanbul
Mayor's office over the article was Ã-zel Yılmaz, a former National
Intelligence Organization (MÄ°T) official who is currently an Ergenekon
suspect. This happened on Jan. 12, 2007, one week ahead of Dink's
assassination.
*In an action plan document codenamed `Orak' (Hook) that belongs to
the Sledgehammer files, Dink appears among targets in the `anti-coup
Armenian press,' which also included Etyen Mahçupyan and Sevan
NiÅ?anyan.
*In the indictment on a document known as the Cage plan, which plots
to assassinate non-Muslim community leaders, allegedly prepared by a
group in the military, the assassination is dubbed an `operation.'
Justice Minister: Dink assassins are coup stagers
Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin criticized the links between coup
plotters and the Dink murder case in a Justice and Development Party
(AK Party) meeting in Ä°stanbul on Sunday.
`The Dink assassins are the same people as the coup stagers. The
assassination belongs to the same plan, which has made many other
similar attempts in Turkey's history, including the Sept. 6-7 events
[targeting the Greek-Turkish population in 1955] and the massacres
committed by groups fomenting chaos in MaraÅ?, Sivas and Ã?orum right
before the Sept. 12, 1980 coup,' Ergin stated, emphasizing the need
for Turkey to face its past.
From: A. Papazian