ISTANBUL: Armenian Private’s Family: Sevag Was Killed Intentionally

ARMENIAN PRIVATE’S FAMILY: SEVAG WAS KILLED INTENTIONALLY WHILE SERVING ARMY

Today’s Zaman
Jan 31 2012
Turkey

The family of a young man of Armenian descent shot dead by another
private while serving in the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) have said
they believe that he was intentionally killed, after new evidence
changed the course of the trial.

Pvt. Sevag Å~^ahin Balıkcı was killed on April 24, 2011, the date
the Armenian diaspora has chosen to commemorate the incidents of
1915, when hundreds of thousands of Armenians were killed in the
Ottoman Empire during the World War I. Officers and other privates
in his unit, which is stationed in Batman province, testified that
Balıkcı was shot accidentally while “joking around” with a close
friend, Kıvanc Agaoglu, who allegedly fired the lethal shot. They
were serving at the Kozluk GumuÅ~_göru Gendarmerie Station at the
time of the alleged murder.

However, since Halil EkÅ~_i, a private who witnessed the incident,
changed his testimony, the Balıkcı family’s lawyer has petitioned
the court to hold the hearing of the trial earlier than the scheduled
date of March 29.

During a hearing at Diyarbakır Second Air Force Commandership
Military Court on Jan. 30, EkÅ~_i, who served in the military at the
same time as Balıkcı, revised his testimony: “Kıvanc pointed his
rifle at Sevag and pulled the trigger. His family had asked me to
testify in his favor,” indicating that Agaoglu’s family pressured
him into giving false testimony.

Despite demands following the testimony by Cem Halavurt, the Balıkcı
family’s lawyer, the court has decided not to arrest Agaoglu.

“One of the judges demanded that Agaoglu be arrested, but others
refused on the basis that EkÅ~_i was put under pressure by Agaoglu’s
family, not by Kıvanc Agaoglu,” Halavurt said.

“We are still collecting evidence on how EkÅ~_i was threatened. We
have requested his phone records. We are trying to clearly discover
if there was intent to murder or not. We might again petition for the
defendant’s arrest. The trial is ongoing,” Halavurt said, adding that
they are pleased the military court has considered their demands.

Ani Balıkcı, mother of Sevag Balıkcı who was present at the
court hearing on Monday, said that EkÅ~_i indicated in court that
the defendant had aimed his rifle at Sevag.

“The judge had a rifle brought to the court for EkÅ~_i to demonstrate
the details of the incident. He showed that the defendant intentionally
killed Sevag,” she said. “We are trying to learn why.”

In the initial stages of the probe investigators were trying to
understand whether Balıkcı was the victim of a hapless accident or
an intentional murder. Based on suspicions arising from the date of the
murder, the family had earlier filed criminal charges against Agaoglu,
claiming he had wanted to kill their son and knew what he was doing
when he fired his rifle. Agaoglu’s lawyers asserted that their client
was a very close friend of Balıkcı and fired the rifle by accident.

Earlier testimony from EkÅ~_i supported this statement. However,
EkÅ~_i, who attended court once again on Dec. 27, 2011, said he wanted
to change his initial testimony.

He said he did not see the suspect playing around with the rifle
and noted that Agaoglu’s uncle, Bulent Kaya, had visited him in his
hometown and assisted him in writing his initial testimony. He gave
his first testimony to an Aydın court on Sept. 9, 2011.

In his latest account, EkÅ~_i told the judge: “I was told by Kıvanc
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 Agaoglu unlocked his rifle’s safety catch and aimed at our other
friend, Å~^ahin. Then he fired the rifle, wounding Å~^ahin. I do not
know why Kıvanc fired at Sevag.” The next hearing of the trial will
be on Feb. 13.