Hurriyet, Turkey
Feb 13 2013
An informant offers to cooperate in the Dink murder probe: report
ISTANBUL ` DoÄ?an News Agency
The Istanbul prosecutor investigating the murder of the Turkish
journalist of Armenian origin, Hrant Dink received a letter Feb. 13
from an inmate claiming to have information on Dink’s killers, DoÄ?an
news agency has reported. The informant, who is said to currently be
serving a prison sentence in Turkey’s Tokat province in Central
Anatolia, offered documentation relating to Dink’s murder in his
letter and agreed to cooperate in the investigation provided the
protection of his family was guaranteed by authorities.
In the letter, the informant revealed the murder had been planned by a
group he had been a member of along with Erhan Tuncel, a former police
informant and suspect, later released following the trial.
According to DoÄ?an news agency’s report, the informant claimed to have
conducted surveillance in front of the Agos newspaper building with
Tuncel prior to the murder.
The Istanbul prosecutor charged with probing into the case Muammer
AkkaÅ? has taken action over the letter and granted protection to both
the informant and his family, according to DoÄ?an news agency.
Dink was the chief editor of Agos, a newspaper published in Turkish
and Armenian, when he was shot in front of his office in Istanbul on
Jan. 19, 2007. The triggerman, Ogün Samast, was sentenced to 22 years
in prison, but the prosecutors’ inability to bring to the light the
other actors behind the murder has caused widespread anger.
February/13/2013