NO ARREST FOR ARMENIAN SOLDIER’S KILLER

Hurriyet Daily News
Feb 1 2012
Turkey

A military court in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır ruled Jan.

30 to continue without arrest the trial of suspect Kıvanc Agaoglu
in the case of Sevag Å~^ahin Balıkcı, a Turkish citizen of Armenian
origin killed under dubious circumstances while performing his military
service in 2011.

“While I was drawing barbed wire in a tilted position, I heard the
sound of a G3 rifle cocking. Then I heard the sound of a gunshot. When
I turned my head and looked, [I saw] Agaoglu standing with his G3
weapon pointing at Sevag Å~^ahin Balıkcı. Balıkcı then dropped to
the ground,” eyewitness Halil EkÅ~_i said in his most recent testimony.

A court delegation decided to turn down the request for suspect
Agaoglu to be tried under arrest through a majority vote.

Upon the request of the Chief Justice, EkÅ~_i also demonstrated the
incident inside the courtroom with a G3 rifle, the standard issue
infantry rifle used in the Turkish military. The Diyarbakır Second
Air Force Command Military Tribunal had decided to reschedule the last
hearing for Jan. 30 after EkÅ~_i changed his testimony regarding the
circumstances under which Balıkcı lost his life on April 24, 2011,
the same date regarded as the anniversary of the 1915 events.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress