news.am, Armenia
Nov 19 2011
Real people behind Dink’s murder must be revealed – suspect’s father
November 19, 2011 | 00:19
The father of one of the suspected conspirator in the murder of
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink reported new details about his
son’s relationship with the police informers, saying that people who
are really behind the murder must be revealed, reports Hürriyet Daily
News and Economic Review.
`We learned that my son had gone off to Azerbaijan before the murder,
even though he had no passport or money,’ suspected instigator Yasin
Hayal’s father, Bahattin Hayal, told the Hürriyet Daily News.
The case will never end unless connections of police informant Erhan
Tuncel are revealed in full, he said, adding that his son was used as
a pawn.
`They stayed at a luxury hotel in Akcaabat [a district in the Black
Sea province of Trabzon]. My son was introduced to two persons in the
hotel. Erhan Tuncel had told [him] that one of these was the Chechen
chief of staff,’ Bahattin Hayal said, adding that his son’s trip to
the Akçaabat with Tuncel constituted yet another point that needed to
be further investigated.
`I am deeply saddened by this murder. I have no courage to go to Rakel
Dink [Hrant Dink’s widow]. They will not shed light on this case until
Erhan Tuncel’s connections are known. The true criminals must be
identified,’ he added. `I am not bluffing, my son was used. The court
tries him for life imprisonment, while Erhan Tuncel might get
released. I curse the day they met.’
The father argued that Yahya Öztürk, who was the chief of Trabzon
police at the time of the incident, told Hayal that his son was
serving the country and that things would be arranged so that he would
not have to serve a long sentence for any role in the murder.
Hrant Dink, a journalist of Armenian origin, was the editor-in-chief
of Istanbul based Agos weekly. He was shot in front of his office on
January 19, 2007; triggerman Ogün Samast was sentenced to 22 years in
prison in July.