OSCE Armenian Mission head: Ten years passed, but Turkish law enforcement entities still cannot find Hrant Dink assassination organizers
ArmInfo.Ten years passed, but Turkish law enforcement entities still cannot find Hrant Dink assassination organizers. According to the information shared by Armenian Foreign Ministry press office, this was stated he Head of the Armenian Mission to the OSCE, Ambassador Arman Kirakosyan, who referred to the 9th anniversary of assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink as he addressed the meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council on January 21. Ambassador Kirakosyan said he shares the expectations of OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic that the masterminds behind the murder will be brought to justice, which will demonstrate to the entire society the importance of freedom of expression.
He noted that "Armenia is consistent in its support for the freedom of the media and the security of human rights advocates." "The persecution of journalists, community heads and human rights defenders in Turkey, the inability to react to the violence and assassinations create an atmosphere of impunity, thus encouraging intolerance against any idea contradicting the country's official position," the Ambassador added. The Ambassador hailed the fact that a huge sector of the Turkish society went to the streets to commemorate the 9th anniversary of Hrant Dink's death, urging punishment for all masterminds behind the murder.
Arman Kirakosyan also urged the Turkish authorities to properly address those calls. Turkish authorities must intensify their efforts to find the masterminds behind the killing of prominent Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, said today.
"Year after year, we remember the anniversary of Hrant Dink's murder, honouring his brave words advocating for minority rights, and paying tribute to his exceptional efforts to create peace," said the Representative. "But we do so knowing that even a decade on, the masterminds behind this tragedy are still at large."
"I urge the authorities of Turkey to increase their efforts to ensure that justice is served and to provide closure for the friends and family of Hrant Dink after an agonizing decade of questions. Authorities must reinforce the vital message to society that those who commit violence against journalists cannot do so with impunity," Kirakisyan said.
To remind, Dink was assassinated in Istanbul on 19 January 2007 by Ogun Samast, a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist, but the customers of the crime were not detected. The Dink murder trial opened in Istanbul on 2 July 2007. Eighteen people were charged at Istanbul Heavy Penal Court No 14 in connection with the journalist's assassination. Since the main suspect, Ogun Samast was younger than 18, the hearing was not public. Reportedly, the defendants Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel repeated their testimonies given to the security forces and prosecutor. The court decided to release the defendants Osman Altay, Irfan Ozkan, Salih Hacisalihoglu and Veysel Toprak to be tried without remand and adjourned the hearing to 1 October. On 25 July 2011, Samast was convicted of premeditated murder and illegal possession of a firearm by Istanbul's Heavy Juvenile Criminal Court. He was sentenced to 22 years and 10 months in prison, and could be eligible for parole in 2021, after serving two thirds of his sentence. Another suspect, Yasin Hayal, was convicted of ordering the murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment. In July 2014, the Turkish Supreme Court ruled that the investigation into the killing had been flawed, thus paving the way for trials of police officials and other public authorities. In the pursuit of this case hearings were held, and in January 2017 Ali Fuat Y?lmazer, the former head of Turkey's police intelligence branch, gave testimony that the killing was "deliberately not prevented" and security authorities in Istanbul and Trabzon were responsible.