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Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Jan 19 2015
Hrant Dink commemorated on eighth anniversary of murder
ISTANBUL
Mourners have marched in Istanbul to commemorate Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink, on the eighth anniversary of his killing.
The march started 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 19 from Taksim Square and ended
with a homage to Dink in front of the Armenian weekly Agos newspaper's
office building in the Pangaltı neighborhood of Å?iÅ?li district.
The marchers observed one minute of silence and then chanted slogans
in front of the Agos office.
Writer and poet Murathan Mungan gave a speech to the gathered crowd
from the window of the office.
`This country not only lost a precious son, but also a prominent
journalist. The absence of him and journalists like him is felt more
in a period when journalism is suffering a huge loss of dignity. Even
if only for this reason, we must look after Agos, which is Hrant
Dink's fourth child and his legacy," Mungan said.
People have been waiting for justice for 12 years in a country ruled
by a party that includes `justice' in its name, Mungan added.
`Hrant Dink spoke in the language of peace, as a person who had
believed in the equality and brotherhood of all nations,' he said,
adding that Dink was the 62nd person in Turkey who had paid the price
of his words with his life.
`He was not the spokesperson of Armenians but the voice of all people
of Turkey who were oppressed, excluded and exploited. His fight and
the fight of those like him is not a fight that can be interrupted by
their deaths. The crowds gathered on these squares show this,' Mungan
said.
The parents of Berkin Elvan, who died in March 2014 after spending 269
days in a coma after being hit by a tear gas canister during a police
crackdown during the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul, also attended the
ceremony.
A small group of Trabzonspor supporters also came to pay their
respects, drawing applause from the crowd. The plot against Dink was
hatched in the Black Sea province of Trabzon, a bastion of
ultranationalism. Members of the Revolutionaries of Trabzon, a
supporters' group for Trabzonspor, marched with a banner of Dink,
while shouting, "Trabzon is here, where are the murderers?"
While commemorations in Istanbul were peaceful, police in Ankara
attacked a memorial for Dink, detaining 20 people, according to daily
BirGün.
Dink, the highly esteemed former editor-in-chief of weekly Agos, was
murdered in broad daylight in front of his newspaper's building on
Jan. 19, 2007, by a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist.
The triggerman, Ogün Samast, was convicted of premeditated murder and
sentenced to 22 years and 10 months of prison after a two-year trial.
The trial into the murder resumed Sept. 17, 2013, after the Supreme
Court of Appeals ruled that all suspects in the case had acted as part
of a criminal organization, rather than individually.
Istanbul's 5th High Criminal Court, which is overseeing the case,
announced on Oct. 30, 2014, that it will focus on the `criminal
organization' allegations against suspects, a move that lawyers
representing the victim's family have demanded since the start of the
retrial.
Yusuf Hayal and Erhan Tuncel are accused of convincing Samast in
Trabzon to shoot Dink.
Civil servants and institutions allegedly implicated in the murder of
Dink should be investigated, Turkey's Constitutional Court stated in
its detailed ruling on the case on Nov. 12, 2014. The court had
earlier stated that the case had not been probed efficiently and the
victim's rights were violated, in a ruling issued in July 2014.
The ruling became a milestone in the case that has been lingering
since the killing in 2007. It came after the Justice Ministry cleared
the path for investigations into nine civil servants, including senior
police officers occupying key posts at the time of the murder. The
officials have been accused of negligence and threatening Dink before
his death.
Before his killing, Dink had been called to a police department and
warned about a possible plot against him. It is therefore thought that
the murder plot was known within some state institutions before it
happened.
In a recent development, Muhittin Zenit and Ã-zkan Mumcu, two police
officers on duty at the police department in Trabzon when Dink was
killed in Istanbul, were arrested.
Former Istanbul police chief Celalettin Cerrah, former Trabzon police
chief ReÅ?at Altay, former Trabzon Police Intelligence Chief Faruk
Sarı, former Istanbul Deputy Governor Ergun Güngör and former Istanbul
Police Intelligence Chief Ahmet Ä°lhan Güler have also testified as
suspects in the case.
January/19/2015
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/hrant-dink-commemorated-on-eighth-anniversary-of-murder.aspx?pageID=238&nid=77127&NewsCatID=341
From: A. Papazian
Jan 19 2015
Hrant Dink commemorated on eighth anniversary of murder
ISTANBUL
Mourners have marched in Istanbul to commemorate Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink, on the eighth anniversary of his killing.
The march started 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 19 from Taksim Square and ended
with a homage to Dink in front of the Armenian weekly Agos newspaper's
office building in the Pangaltı neighborhood of Å?iÅ?li district.
The marchers observed one minute of silence and then chanted slogans
in front of the Agos office.
Writer and poet Murathan Mungan gave a speech to the gathered crowd
from the window of the office.
`This country not only lost a precious son, but also a prominent
journalist. The absence of him and journalists like him is felt more
in a period when journalism is suffering a huge loss of dignity. Even
if only for this reason, we must look after Agos, which is Hrant
Dink's fourth child and his legacy," Mungan said.
People have been waiting for justice for 12 years in a country ruled
by a party that includes `justice' in its name, Mungan added.
`Hrant Dink spoke in the language of peace, as a person who had
believed in the equality and brotherhood of all nations,' he said,
adding that Dink was the 62nd person in Turkey who had paid the price
of his words with his life.
`He was not the spokesperson of Armenians but the voice of all people
of Turkey who were oppressed, excluded and exploited. His fight and
the fight of those like him is not a fight that can be interrupted by
their deaths. The crowds gathered on these squares show this,' Mungan
said.
The parents of Berkin Elvan, who died in March 2014 after spending 269
days in a coma after being hit by a tear gas canister during a police
crackdown during the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul, also attended the
ceremony.
A small group of Trabzonspor supporters also came to pay their
respects, drawing applause from the crowd. The plot against Dink was
hatched in the Black Sea province of Trabzon, a bastion of
ultranationalism. Members of the Revolutionaries of Trabzon, a
supporters' group for Trabzonspor, marched with a banner of Dink,
while shouting, "Trabzon is here, where are the murderers?"
While commemorations in Istanbul were peaceful, police in Ankara
attacked a memorial for Dink, detaining 20 people, according to daily
BirGün.
Dink, the highly esteemed former editor-in-chief of weekly Agos, was
murdered in broad daylight in front of his newspaper's building on
Jan. 19, 2007, by a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist.
The triggerman, Ogün Samast, was convicted of premeditated murder and
sentenced to 22 years and 10 months of prison after a two-year trial.
The trial into the murder resumed Sept. 17, 2013, after the Supreme
Court of Appeals ruled that all suspects in the case had acted as part
of a criminal organization, rather than individually.
Istanbul's 5th High Criminal Court, which is overseeing the case,
announced on Oct. 30, 2014, that it will focus on the `criminal
organization' allegations against suspects, a move that lawyers
representing the victim's family have demanded since the start of the
retrial.
Yusuf Hayal and Erhan Tuncel are accused of convincing Samast in
Trabzon to shoot Dink.
Civil servants and institutions allegedly implicated in the murder of
Dink should be investigated, Turkey's Constitutional Court stated in
its detailed ruling on the case on Nov. 12, 2014. The court had
earlier stated that the case had not been probed efficiently and the
victim's rights were violated, in a ruling issued in July 2014.
The ruling became a milestone in the case that has been lingering
since the killing in 2007. It came after the Justice Ministry cleared
the path for investigations into nine civil servants, including senior
police officers occupying key posts at the time of the murder. The
officials have been accused of negligence and threatening Dink before
his death.
Before his killing, Dink had been called to a police department and
warned about a possible plot against him. It is therefore thought that
the murder plot was known within some state institutions before it
happened.
In a recent development, Muhittin Zenit and Ã-zkan Mumcu, two police
officers on duty at the police department in Trabzon when Dink was
killed in Istanbul, were arrested.
Former Istanbul police chief Celalettin Cerrah, former Trabzon police
chief ReÅ?at Altay, former Trabzon Police Intelligence Chief Faruk
Sarı, former Istanbul Deputy Governor Ergun Güngör and former Istanbul
Police Intelligence Chief Ahmet Ä°lhan Güler have also testified as
suspects in the case.
January/19/2015
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/hrant-dink-commemorated-on-eighth-anniversary-of-murder.aspx?pageID=238&nid=77127&NewsCatID=341
From: A. Papazian