The New Anatolian, Turkey
Feb 1 2007
Interior Ministry anticipates further turmoil in wake of Dink killing
The New Anatolian / Ankara
01 February 2007
The Interior Ministry yesterday sent a circular to all governors’
offices throughout the country warning of possible provocative
activities to further exploit last month’s murder of Armenian-origin
Turkish journalist Hrant Dink.
The circular came after the high-profile assassination case grabbed
all media attention with even speculative news articles promptly
denied by the authorities.
Police spokesperson Ismail Caliskan yesterday also told reporters
that a great majority of the media stories don’t reflect the truth
about the killing and the suspects.
Caliskan said that the police managed to catch the perpetrators in a
very short time and that they are working to shed light onto all
hidden aspects of the incident.
The media has run stories claiming that a third man behind the
gunman, Erhan Tuncel, was a police informant and that he informed his
superiors about the planned Dink assassination and that his tip-off
was neglected due to a clash of interest within the police force.
However a high-ranking police official said that informants always
come in with tip-offs about people like Dink being threatened.
However reports also claimed yesterday that Tuncel’s connection with
the police was cut after his tip-off about Dink. Both Istanbul and
Trabzon police have yet to deny the claim, while the inspectors are
continuing inquires into whether the Ankara Police Intelligence
Department called on Istanbul police to protect Dink.
The second man Yasin Hayal, who was arrested and sent to an F-type
prison on charges of inciting murder, was said to have spoken about
Dink’s murder around the northern province of Trabzon, the homeland
of arrested gunman Ogun Samast and Hayal.
Another high-profile story claimed that, based on eye witnesses,
Samast was not alone when he gunned down the journalist.
The Interior Ministry at the same time ordered the appointment two
more inspectors — a Gendarmerie inspector and a police chief
inspector — to the city to aid two ministry inspectors currently
carrying out an investigation into the alleged negligence of state
authorities in Trabzon.
The ministry, in the circular, warned the governors of ongoing
protests throughout the country and said that certain circles may
manipulate this highly sensitive atmosphere.
It ordered provincial authorities to police, monitor and even record
public gatherings and to act in coordination with the judicial bodies
to intervene in unwanted violent activities in a timely manner.
In related news, another suspect, Salih Hacisalihoglu who is charged
with providing bullets to the gunman, was arrested yesterday raising
the number of arrested to seven.
The killing led to turmoil in society with a group accusing the
police and the state of failing to protect Dink while another raising
anti-Armenian slogans praising the state authorities. The
anti-Armenian stance, believed to be triggered after pro-Armenian
slogans chanted during the funeral ceremony of the late journalist,
even spread to football matches prompting a Cabinet minister to urge
football fans to use common sense.
Amid the disturbance, Trabzon’s governor and police chief were
suspended, while the opposition parties demanded the government to
suspend Istanbul police chief partly due to his immediate comment
after the detention of the gunman that he committed the crime under
his nationalist sentiments and he has no link with an organization,
and presented a censure motion against Interior Minister Abdulkadir
Aksu.
However a motion submitted by the main opposition Republican People’s
Party (CHP) asking Parliament to establish an investigation
commission to carry out a study over the recent incidents in Trabzon
was dropped.
Ibrahim Ozdogan, the Erzurum deputy of the Motherland Party
(ANAVATAN), which on Tuesday submitted a censure motion against the
minister, said that the government should punish the Interior
Minister in the way it punished the two local authorities in Trabzon.
Ozdogan, speaking at a press conference in Parliament, accused the
minister of neglecting his duty.
‘Armenian community’s concerns rising’
In related news, Fethiye Cetin, an Armenian lawyer in Turkey,
yesterday claimed that ultranationalist circles have increased
attacks against the Armenian community in the country after the
killing of Dink.
Voicing rising concerns of the community, she branded two public
polls conducted by mass-circulation daily Hurriyet as to whether the
slogans shouted at the funeral saying, "We’re all Hrant, we’re all
Armenians," were appropriate or not, and whether it is right to
recite Islamic verses for Dink, as a rather dangerous and ugly move.
The daily has yet to make public the outcomes of the polls.
On the other hand, a spokesperson for a Trabzon platform expressed
the city’s rising tension and said that they will not remain
indifferent to those who attempt to damage the country and the
nation’s unity by taking advantage of the highly sensitive atmosphere
that emerged after Dink’s murder.
Ilyas Guven Eroglu, the spokesperson for the Trabzon Associations
Union Platform, made up of 18 local civil groups, also criticized the
press for news stories humiliating and laying the blame on Trabzon
and its people.
Eroglu told a press conference in front of a Turkish flag, an Ataturk
poster and banners reading, "We’re from Trabzon, Turks, and we’re all
Mustafa Kemal [Ataturk]," that media stories have turned into a
psychological war to wear down the resistance of the Turkish people.
"International circles have been carrying out secret activities in
the region and particularly in Trabzon with hidden purposes," said
the spokesperson, claiming that there are plans to turn the Black Sea
basin into an Orthodox influence region as part of aims to
disintegrate the country.
He went on to claim that ethnic groups, terror organizations and
missionaries are highly active in the city.