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LAWYER SAYS RECENT TESTIMONY OF DINK MURDER HITMAN IS PART OF PLOT
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Dec 12 2014
December 12, 2014, Friday/ 14:16:54/
by YAKUP CETÝN / ISTANBUL
The lawyer of Erhan Tuncel, an informant for the Trabzon Police
Department who was accused of initiating the effort to have
Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink murdered in 2007, has said
that the recent testimony of the hitman who killed Dink, Ogun Samast,
is part of a plot designed to link the faith-based Hizmet movement
with the murder.
Tuncel's lawyer, Erdoðan Soruklu, told the press that they had heard
earlier that a plot was being designed regarding the Dink assassination
and that someone was attempting to convince Samast, who was sentenced
to 21 years and six months in prison in 2011 for assassinating Dink,
to speak "as desired." "We had heard about a plot, but we were not sure
whether Ogun [Samast] was convinced or not. The testimony [recently
provided by Samast] has shown that he was convinced," Soruklu said.
Seven years after the murder, Samast suddenly decided to testify as
a witness on Dec. 5 to Prosecutor Yusuf Hakký Doðan. Samast's latest
testimony differs from what he said back in 2010. Most recently he
claimed that while at Tuncel's house he heard a conversation between
two people who were talking about Ramazan Akyurek, the former head
of the intelligence unit of the National Police Department, and a
police chief named Fuat.
Samast said that when he asked Yasin Hayal -- another suspect in the
case who was sentenced to life in prison for inciting Samast to commit
the murder -- about the names he overheard, he was told that Tuncel
knew these people and that they were fully behind the plot to kill
Dink. The testimony contradicts Samast's 2010 deposition that led to
his conviction. He had earlier claimed that he never knew Tuncel and
that Hayal was acting as a liaison to Tuncel.
Pro-government media outlets, such as the Sabah daily, used Samast's
testimony to report on an alleged link between the Dink murder and
the Hizmet movement, which is inspired by the teachings of Turkish
Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen. Their reports implied that Hizmet
members were the ones behind the assassination.
Soruklu said Samast's testimony is contradictory, adding that it
would be very easy to expose these contradictions.
Soruklu says evidence in Dink trial destroyed
The lawyer also said that the location where Dink was attacked is one
where there are security cameras everywhere, but just one recording
was provided as evidence. "We believe that almost all the evidence
and video collected from the security cameras was destroyed," he said.
Hakan Bakýrcýoðlu, a lawyer representing the Dink family, filed a
complaint against police inspector Selim Kutkan, who was the head of
the Ýstanbul Police Department's anti-terrorism unit when Dink's murder
took place on Jan. 19, 2007, for playing a role in the destruction of
security camera footage from an ATM on the street where Dink was shot
and killed. Bakýrcýoðlu had said Kutkan was a lackey of Workers' Party
(ÝP) leader Doðu Perincek, who was given life without parole in August
of 2013 in the trial against the Ergenekon terrorist organization,
but was then released in March of this year.
Dink was assassinated in broad daylight outside the office of his Agos
newspaper by an ultranationalist teenager in January 2007. Samast and
18 others were brought to trial. During the process, the lawyers for
the Dink family and the co-plaintiffs in the case presented evidence
indicating that Samast did not act alone.
Tuncel, who was the man accused of initiating the effort to have
Dink murdered, was acquitted of all charges related to the killing
of Dink, but then rearrested during the retrial of the murder case
early in 2014. He was released again in March of 2014 as part of a
bill reducing the maximum period of arrest to five years.
Deputy governor confirms Dink 'warned' over Sabiha Gokcen reports
In recent years, there have been claims in the media that former
Ýstanbul Deputy Governor Ergun Gungor and National Intelligence
Organization (MÝT) members invited Dink to the Ýstanbul Governor's
Office to warn him of "possible danger if he continues to make
controversial statements."
Testifying for the Ýstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on Dec. 9
as a suspect in the trial into the Dink murder, Gungor reportedly told
the prosecutors that his meeting with Dink at the governor's office
took place "on an order from MÝT." Confirming MÝT's role during his
testimony, Gungor also stated that Dink was warned that his report
about Sabiha Gokcen, the adopted daughter of the founder of the
Turkish Republic, "might be manipulated by someone or some segments"
during the conversation at the governor's office.
It was claimed that Gungor had summoned Dink to his office on Feb. 24,
2004, where two MÝT agents warned the journalist to be "more careful"
about what he wrote. The meeting came a week after Dink had suggested
that Gokcen was in fact an Armenian orphan. During the conversation,
the deputy governor and the two MÝT officials threatened Dink by
saying things like, "We know who you are, but society may not" and
"We are concerned that society might not be able to understand things
like this."
http://www.todayszaman.com/latest-news_lawyer-says-recent-testimony-of-dink-murder-hitman-is-part-of-plot_366775.html
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Dec 12 2014
December 12, 2014, Friday/ 14:16:54/
by YAKUP CETÝN / ISTANBUL
The lawyer of Erhan Tuncel, an informant for the Trabzon Police
Department who was accused of initiating the effort to have
Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink murdered in 2007, has said
that the recent testimony of the hitman who killed Dink, Ogun Samast,
is part of a plot designed to link the faith-based Hizmet movement
with the murder.
Tuncel's lawyer, Erdoðan Soruklu, told the press that they had heard
earlier that a plot was being designed regarding the Dink assassination
and that someone was attempting to convince Samast, who was sentenced
to 21 years and six months in prison in 2011 for assassinating Dink,
to speak "as desired." "We had heard about a plot, but we were not sure
whether Ogun [Samast] was convinced or not. The testimony [recently
provided by Samast] has shown that he was convinced," Soruklu said.
Seven years after the murder, Samast suddenly decided to testify as
a witness on Dec. 5 to Prosecutor Yusuf Hakký Doðan. Samast's latest
testimony differs from what he said back in 2010. Most recently he
claimed that while at Tuncel's house he heard a conversation between
two people who were talking about Ramazan Akyurek, the former head
of the intelligence unit of the National Police Department, and a
police chief named Fuat.
Samast said that when he asked Yasin Hayal -- another suspect in the
case who was sentenced to life in prison for inciting Samast to commit
the murder -- about the names he overheard, he was told that Tuncel
knew these people and that they were fully behind the plot to kill
Dink. The testimony contradicts Samast's 2010 deposition that led to
his conviction. He had earlier claimed that he never knew Tuncel and
that Hayal was acting as a liaison to Tuncel.
Pro-government media outlets, such as the Sabah daily, used Samast's
testimony to report on an alleged link between the Dink murder and
the Hizmet movement, which is inspired by the teachings of Turkish
Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen. Their reports implied that Hizmet
members were the ones behind the assassination.
Soruklu said Samast's testimony is contradictory, adding that it
would be very easy to expose these contradictions.
Soruklu says evidence in Dink trial destroyed
The lawyer also said that the location where Dink was attacked is one
where there are security cameras everywhere, but just one recording
was provided as evidence. "We believe that almost all the evidence
and video collected from the security cameras was destroyed," he said.
Hakan Bakýrcýoðlu, a lawyer representing the Dink family, filed a
complaint against police inspector Selim Kutkan, who was the head of
the Ýstanbul Police Department's anti-terrorism unit when Dink's murder
took place on Jan. 19, 2007, for playing a role in the destruction of
security camera footage from an ATM on the street where Dink was shot
and killed. Bakýrcýoðlu had said Kutkan was a lackey of Workers' Party
(ÝP) leader Doðu Perincek, who was given life without parole in August
of 2013 in the trial against the Ergenekon terrorist organization,
but was then released in March of this year.
Dink was assassinated in broad daylight outside the office of his Agos
newspaper by an ultranationalist teenager in January 2007. Samast and
18 others were brought to trial. During the process, the lawyers for
the Dink family and the co-plaintiffs in the case presented evidence
indicating that Samast did not act alone.
Tuncel, who was the man accused of initiating the effort to have
Dink murdered, was acquitted of all charges related to the killing
of Dink, but then rearrested during the retrial of the murder case
early in 2014. He was released again in March of 2014 as part of a
bill reducing the maximum period of arrest to five years.
Deputy governor confirms Dink 'warned' over Sabiha Gokcen reports
In recent years, there have been claims in the media that former
Ýstanbul Deputy Governor Ergun Gungor and National Intelligence
Organization (MÝT) members invited Dink to the Ýstanbul Governor's
Office to warn him of "possible danger if he continues to make
controversial statements."
Testifying for the Ýstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on Dec. 9
as a suspect in the trial into the Dink murder, Gungor reportedly told
the prosecutors that his meeting with Dink at the governor's office
took place "on an order from MÝT." Confirming MÝT's role during his
testimony, Gungor also stated that Dink was warned that his report
about Sabiha Gokcen, the adopted daughter of the founder of the
Turkish Republic, "might be manipulated by someone or some segments"
during the conversation at the governor's office.
It was claimed that Gungor had summoned Dink to his office on Feb. 24,
2004, where two MÝT agents warned the journalist to be "more careful"
about what he wrote. The meeting came a week after Dink had suggested
that Gokcen was in fact an Armenian orphan. During the conversation,
the deputy governor and the two MÝT officials threatened Dink by
saying things like, "We know who you are, but society may not" and
"We are concerned that society might not be able to understand things
like this."
http://www.todayszaman.com/latest-news_lawyer-says-recent-testimony-of-dink-murder-hitman-is-part-of-plot_366775.html