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Today's Zaman, Turkey
May 5 2013
Man shoots bullets into air in front of Armenian church
5 May 2013 /TODAYSZAMAN.COM, Ä°STANBUL
An unknown assailant opened fire into the air outside a small Armenian
church in Ä°stanbul on Sunday while an Orthodox sermon was being held
inside.
No one was hurt during the incident but it has made the Armenian
community extremely uneasy as it came only a day after a racist
organization burned a copy of an Armenian newspaper in IÄ?dır province.
The church where the incident happened is in GedikpaÅ?a, not far from
the official Armenian Patriarchate. Garo Paylan, who was attending the
event, said that someone fired seven shots into the air while standing
in front of the church's gate. He said that the congregation panicked
and ran outside. Paylan also added that he believed the reason why
this happened in front of the smaller church is because there are less
security cameras around it as opposed to the street where the
patriarchy is located.
He said that the police had arrived at the scene and started
investigations to identify the shooter. They were also to review
footage from nearby cameras.
Paylan noted that an extreme right organization that calls itself the
International Association to Fight Unfounded Armenian Allegations
(ASÄ°M-DER) had burned a copy of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos in
IÄ?dır on Saturday, adding that he did not believe it was a coincidence
that the shooting came a day after the ASÄ°M-DER incident.
Paylan also said that the Armenian community and Agos could file all
the complaints in the world but the rest of the country should stand
up against such acts of racism.
ASÄ°M-DER, an organization founded in 2002, denies that it is racist or
that it has links to coup-plotting organizations that have been found
to have devised plots targeting non-Muslim establishments and
community leaders.
Agos' previous editor-in-chief Hrant Dink was killed by an
ultra-nationalist teenager in 2007. The court said that the man had
acted alone but a higher court is currently reviewing the case and its
prosecutor has said that the presence of an organized network in
Dink's murder is evident.
Dink's lawyers also presented evidence during the initial trial
indicating that there were active efforts by some in the police and
gendarmerie forces to obscure evidence, cover up the killing and
protect the hit man and other individuals believed to have solicited
him for the murder.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-314591-man-shoots-bullets-into-air-in-front-of-armenian-church.html
May 5 2013
Man shoots bullets into air in front of Armenian church
5 May 2013 /TODAYSZAMAN.COM, Ä°STANBUL
An unknown assailant opened fire into the air outside a small Armenian
church in Ä°stanbul on Sunday while an Orthodox sermon was being held
inside.
No one was hurt during the incident but it has made the Armenian
community extremely uneasy as it came only a day after a racist
organization burned a copy of an Armenian newspaper in IÄ?dır province.
The church where the incident happened is in GedikpaÅ?a, not far from
the official Armenian Patriarchate. Garo Paylan, who was attending the
event, said that someone fired seven shots into the air while standing
in front of the church's gate. He said that the congregation panicked
and ran outside. Paylan also added that he believed the reason why
this happened in front of the smaller church is because there are less
security cameras around it as opposed to the street where the
patriarchy is located.
He said that the police had arrived at the scene and started
investigations to identify the shooter. They were also to review
footage from nearby cameras.
Paylan noted that an extreme right organization that calls itself the
International Association to Fight Unfounded Armenian Allegations
(ASÄ°M-DER) had burned a copy of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos in
IÄ?dır on Saturday, adding that he did not believe it was a coincidence
that the shooting came a day after the ASÄ°M-DER incident.
Paylan also said that the Armenian community and Agos could file all
the complaints in the world but the rest of the country should stand
up against such acts of racism.
ASÄ°M-DER, an organization founded in 2002, denies that it is racist or
that it has links to coup-plotting organizations that have been found
to have devised plots targeting non-Muslim establishments and
community leaders.
Agos' previous editor-in-chief Hrant Dink was killed by an
ultra-nationalist teenager in 2007. The court said that the man had
acted alone but a higher court is currently reviewing the case and its
prosecutor has said that the presence of an organized network in
Dink's murder is evident.
Dink's lawyers also presented evidence during the initial trial
indicating that there were active efforts by some in the police and
gendarmerie forces to obscure evidence, cover up the killing and
protect the hit man and other individuals believed to have solicited
him for the murder.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-314591-man-shoots-bullets-into-air-in-front-of-armenian-church.html