Armenian soldier serving in the Turkish Army killed intentionally, new
testimony shows

armradio.am
28.01.2012 14:34

A young man of Armenian descent who was killed while serving in the
Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) as a conscripted private, which was
initially believed to be an accident, is likely a hate crime committed
because of the victim’s ethnic background, new testimony from another
private indicates, Today’s Zaman repoers.

Pvt. Sevag Å?ahin Balıkçı was shot dead on April 24, 2011 – the date of
commemoration of Armenian Genocide victims. The other privates in his
unit, stationed in Batman province, and other officers testified that
Balıkçı was shot accidentally when he was `joking around’ with a close
friend, Kıvanç AÄ?aoÄ?lu. However, according to a report published in
the Sabah daily on Friday, one of the privates who witnessed the
incident changed his testimony, which will likely change the course of
the trial of AÄ?aoÄ?lu, the shooter.

The revised testimony was given in late December, according to Sabah’s
report. Halil EkÅ?i, who served in the military during the same period
as Sevag Balıkçı, in his revised testimony said, `Kıvanç pointed his
rifle at Sevag and pulled the trigger. His family had asked me to
testify in his favor,’ indicating that AÄ?aoÄ?lu’s family pressured him
into not describing what really happened.

In his latest account, EkÅ?i told the judge hearing his testimony: `I
was told by suspect Kıvanç and his family, especially his uncle, to
testify in his favor. On the day of the incident, we were installing
chain-link fencing around the station under orders from our
commanders. As we did our work, at some point, Kıvanç AÄ?aoÄ?lu unlocked
his rifle’s safety and directed it at our other friend Sevag Å?ahin.
And he fired the rifle. This way, Sevag Å?ahin was wounded. I do not
know why Kıvanç fired at Sevag.’

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress