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HAYAL SAYS READY TO TESTIFY IF GENDARMES STAND FOR DINK TRIAL
Today's Zaman
March 2 2012
Turkey
Yasin Hayal, who received a life sentence for his involvement in
the killing of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, has said
some gendarmerie officers in Trabzon should stand trial for their
involvement in the murder of Dink and added that he is ready to
testify whenever needed.
Hayal, who claims that he received the instructions to murder Dink
from Erhan Tuncel, has said that gendarmerie officers in Trabzon
insistently told him to stay in contact with Tuncel, who they called
a good man, the Taraf daily reported on Friday.
Tuncel, the controversial Trabzon police informant who was sentenced to
10 years for his role in the 2004 bombing of a McDonald's in Trabzon,
was acquitted of all charges regarding the Dink murder, including
the prosecutors' claim that he was the one who gave orders to Hayal.
Adding that he went to the Trabzon Gendarmerie Command many times after
the murder, Hayal said he would testify if prosecutors investigate the
gendarmes. "The court has asked for the gendarmerie command's guest
book to see whether or not I went there, and they could not see my
name in the book; this is because I was allowed to move freely about
the post, and officers told me that I didn't need to sign the book."
Explaining his relations with the gendarmes before the murder, Hayal
says a high-level gendarmerie officer named Nazım gave orders to
privates in the office to pay great respect to Hayal. "When someone in
his 20s gets praised like that all time, he would blindly do anything
for a person of such rank. They used to provide everything for me,
including food and clothing," he added.
Hayal says he previously provided evidence of gendarmes' involvement in
the murder case but that the court has not investigated the documents
he provided.
The late editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos,
Dink was shot and killed in broad daylihgt on Jan. 19, 2007 by an
ultranationalist teenager outside the offices of his newspaper in
İstanbul. Evidence discovered since then has led to claims that the
murder was linked to the "deep state," a term used in reference to
a shady group of military and civilian bureaucrats believed to have
links with criminal elements.
Today's Zaman
March 2 2012
Turkey
Yasin Hayal, who received a life sentence for his involvement in
the killing of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, has said
some gendarmerie officers in Trabzon should stand trial for their
involvement in the murder of Dink and added that he is ready to
testify whenever needed.
Hayal, who claims that he received the instructions to murder Dink
from Erhan Tuncel, has said that gendarmerie officers in Trabzon
insistently told him to stay in contact with Tuncel, who they called
a good man, the Taraf daily reported on Friday.
Tuncel, the controversial Trabzon police informant who was sentenced to
10 years for his role in the 2004 bombing of a McDonald's in Trabzon,
was acquitted of all charges regarding the Dink murder, including
the prosecutors' claim that he was the one who gave orders to Hayal.
Adding that he went to the Trabzon Gendarmerie Command many times after
the murder, Hayal said he would testify if prosecutors investigate the
gendarmes. "The court has asked for the gendarmerie command's guest
book to see whether or not I went there, and they could not see my
name in the book; this is because I was allowed to move freely about
the post, and officers told me that I didn't need to sign the book."
Explaining his relations with the gendarmes before the murder, Hayal
says a high-level gendarmerie officer named Nazım gave orders to
privates in the office to pay great respect to Hayal. "When someone in
his 20s gets praised like that all time, he would blindly do anything
for a person of such rank. They used to provide everything for me,
including food and clothing," he added.
Hayal says he previously provided evidence of gendarmes' involvement in
the murder case but that the court has not investigated the documents
he provided.
The late editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos,
Dink was shot and killed in broad daylihgt on Jan. 19, 2007 by an
ultranationalist teenager outside the offices of his newspaper in
İstanbul. Evidence discovered since then has led to claims that the
murder was linked to the "deep state," a term used in reference to
a shady group of military and civilian bureaucrats believed to have
links with criminal elements.