State Gave no Answers to Questions on Hrant Dink Murder

The "Friends of Hrant" group, formed to bring light into the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, announced the results of their information campaign initiated to resolve the murder and to call the responsible people to justice. The "Friends of Hrant" initiative held a press conference on Tuesday (12 October) to inform the public on the replies they received from the Presidency of the Republic, the Judiciary, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and of the Interior and the Prime Ministry.

Spokesman Ümit Kıvanç read out a statement including the answers regarding the killing of Dink and the time periods before and after the murder:

"A number of government officials almost worked like machines. As if it was not enough to join the time period around the murder with a big appetite for the judiciary and the media, all officials were protected, observed, nobody was interrogated, prosecuted or punished. In the course of the murder trial it turned into an ominous theatre displaying one dishonourable scene after another", Kıvanç said.

President Abdullah Gül had previously admitted that "Hrant Dink died because the necessary precautions had not been taken". When asked by the initiative how he knew that, the following response was sent: "The President expressed the worries of the public and these worries were justified as shown by the decision of the ECHR [European Court of Human Rights] as a matter of fact", Kıvanç quoted.

"This is not of your concern."

The information campaign had also addressed the Ministry of Justice regarding a threat against Dink voiced by Ergenekon defendant Levent Temiz and a group of nationalists who called Dink their "target" in a demonstration in front of the Armenian Agos newspaper in 2004. The initiative had asked whether any action had been taken related to the prosecutors who remained passive at the time. The Ministry of Justice replied that this was not of the initiative's concern.

"Three ministries were in charge of this dreadful defence"

The campaign furthermore included questions on the controversial defence submitted to the ECHR by the Foreign Ministry, for instance: who prepared the defence; who appointed that person and when; who approved it; was any action taken against the person(s) who prepared the defence. According to Kıvanç, these questions remained unanswered:

"Instead of answering our questions, the Foreign Ministry said that this dreadful defence was based on information obtained by the Ministry of Justice and the Interior. After this reply we understood that the government and the state were in charge of the defence".

MİT - a company?

Moreover, the Prime Minster had been asked why the Dink murder trial did not come across any activities related to MİT, the National Intelligence Agency. According to Kıvanç, the Prime Minster answered, "The institution mentioned in your application is an autonomous unit, thus the Prime Ministry cannot do anything. Your request has to be sent to the company itself".

The Dink Case

Dink, founder of the Armenian Agos newspaper, was killed in front of his office in Şişli (Istanbul) on 19 January 2007. Three defendants as prime suspects of the murder are tried in the Istanbul case which will be continued on 25 October. Another eight defendants stand trial in Trabzon under charges of "misconduct of office by means of neglect". (BT/VK)