Author: Kalantarian Kevo

DINK MURDER MASTERMINDED BY ERGENEKON – SUSPECT

PanARMENIAN.Net
January 20, 2012 – 11:46 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The court hearing the Hrant Dink murder trial
ruled out the involvement of an organized criminal structure in the
assassination, but one of the main suspects – who was also released
on Jan 18 – says the killing was the job of Ergenekon, a clandestine
network whose suspected members – including generals, military officers
and many civilians – are currently in jail for plotting a military
takeover, Today’s Zaman reported.

Erhan Tuncel, the controversial Trabzon police informant who was
sentenced to 10 years for his role in the 2004 bombing of a McDonald’s
in Trabzon but was acquitted of all charges regarding the Dink murder,
including the prosecutors’ claim that he was the one who gave orders
to Yasin Hayal – the man who was given life for soliciting Dink’s
shooter – has spoken to Today’s Zaman, stating that the court’s
verdict pointing to an absence of an organized network behind the
crime was wrong.

Tuncel said that “there is an organized network behind the murder,”
in responding to questions e-mailed to his lawyer on Jan. 12 while he
was still in jail. Tuncel was released one day after the verdict. He
has been in jail for five years, meaning he has already completed the
sentence he was dealt for the McDonald’s murder under provisions of
the Code on Criminal Procedure (CMK).

He has been a controversial figure from the start, allegedly having
known the about the plot to assassinate Dink, although the court
ruling found him innocent of involvement in the murder or of being
part of a crime network that planned the assassination.

Tuncel told Today’s Zaman that the murder was masterminded by
Ergenekon. Tuncel said Ergenekon sought to blame the murder on the
segments of society it had as its targets. He said there were many
shady aspects about the role of the Trabzon Gendarmerie Command of
the murder. “Of course, there is also the Col. Ali Oz factor,” he
said in a four-page, handwritten letter.

Tuncel said for the murder to be solved in a true sense, “the forces
supporting” Yasin Hayal – who was sentenced to life in prison for
soliciting the shooter, Ogun Samast, to commit the murder – should be
found out. Tuncel firmly believes that the Dink murder was part of
a coup plan devised by Ergenekon. “Their plan was to take over the
intelligence unit of the police force and then eliminate all those
opposing the planned coup d’etat. They wanted to stage this coup,”
he said.

ARCHBISHOP MARDIROSSIAN DELIVERS INVOCATION AT LA COUNTY BOARD MEETING

PanARMENIAN.Net
January 20, 2012 – 13:36 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – At the invitation of Los Angeles County Supervisor
Michael Antonovich, on January 17, Western Prelate Archbishop Moushegh
Mardirossian delivered the invocation during the weekly County Board
of Supervisors meeting, Asbarez reported.

The Prelate was accompanied by Archpriest Fr. Vicken Vassilian and
ANC-WR Board Member Pattyl Aposhian-Kasparian.

Chairman of the Board Zev Yaroslavsky invited the Prelate to deliver
the invocation.

The Prelate first thanked the Board of Supervisors for the invitation
to participate in their weekly meeting. In the invocation, he thanked
the Board of Supervisors for their friendship and support and prayed
for God to bless them and guide them in their leadership of the
County of Los Angeles and its residents. The Prelate also prayed for
the safety and peace of this nation, and especially for the men and
women of our armed forces who serve in defense of our nation.

Supervisor Michael Antonovich thanked the Prelate for accepting their
invitation and presented him with a certificate of appreciation on
this occasion.

ARMENIA MUST CHANGE TO PROPORTIONAL ELECTION SYSTEM FORTHWITH – ARF DASHNAKTSUTYUN

NEWS.am
January 20, 2012 | 13:28

YEREVAN. – Armenia must change to a 100-percent proportional election
system forthwith, parliamentary opposition ARF Dashnaktsutyun Party’s
Supreme Body member, MP Armen Rustamyan stated during Friday’s
conference jointly held by ARF Dashnaktsutyun and parliamentary
opposition Heritage Party. He added that this is why the two parties
introduced a bill to that effect.

“If the [parliamentary] majority wishes, the electoral system can
change completely,” Rustamyan noted, and added: “It can change
fully, [and] without getting in the way of holding the upcoming
[parliamentary] elections.”

“There are no fundamental disagreements with respect to the electoral
systems. All agree, but one says ‘we will pass to it later,’ whereas
the others demand that the change be adopted immediately,” Armen
Rustamyan maintained.

In his words, Armenia’s authorities need to prove whether they truly
want democratic elections in the country. “If the authorities do not
adopt the change, they will exclude themselves from the political
processes,” Rustamyan argued.

DUNJA MIJATOVIG: FIVE YEARS AFTER DINK’S MURDER JUSTICE HAS STILL NOT BEEN DONE

armradio.am
20.01.2012 14:10

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja MijatoviÄ~G,
said on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the murder
of prominent Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink that OSCE
participating States must do more to protect journalists and punish
their assailants.

Dink, the editor-in-chief of the Armenian-Turkish language weekly
Agos, was shot dead on January 19, 2007 in front of its Istanbul
offices. Two days ago a criminal court in Istanbul sentenced one man
for involvement but acquitted 18 other defendants of charges of acting
on the orders of a terrorist organization.

“As the recent court verdict shows, even five years after Dink’s
murder justice has still not been done. If the instigators of violence
against journalists are not punished it sends a chilling message to
society that such crimes are tolerated,” said MijatoviÄ~G.

“Governments have a duty not only to condemn violence against
journalists loudly and resolutely, but also to ensure that these crimes
are prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Journalists must feel
protected when they report on issues that affect all our lives.”

MijatoviÄ~G also noted the statements by the Turkish political
leadership on this issue, including President Abdullah Gul and
Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arınc, who said that the decision was
unsatisfactory to the people and that the ruling could be appealed.

“During my visit last December, the authorities assured me that the
media freedom situation in Turkey will improve soon. I look forward to
continuing working with them on all issues related to media freedom,”
the Representative said.

“I continue to monitor the case of Hrant Dink and I also continue to
follow all cases in OSCE countries where journalists were killed in
relation to their work,” she said. “In too many cases justice has still
not been delivered after many years of investigation. The families,
friends and colleagues of these journalists, as well as the societies
as a whole, deserve to know the truth.”

LE COLLECTIF MEMOIRE ET AVENIR ” COURAGE, MESSIEURS LES SENATEURS ! ”
Stephane

armenews.com
vendredi 20 janvier 2012

Par la voix de son porte-parole et coordinateur Krikor Amirzayan, le
Collectif Memoire et Avenir qui lutte contre tous les negationnismes
demande au Senat francais ” de faire le dernier pas en toute serenite
pour que la loi de la Republique de 2001 puisse vivre. Car les actes
negationnistes en France ont minimise la portee de cette loi en
bafouant les règles de la Republique. Les citoyens Francais d’origine
armenienne mais egalement tous les citoyens epris de Justice et de
Liberte demandent l’application de la loi francaise. Cette loi de 2001
etant incomplète, il est salutaire de la completer par le volet penal.

Aussi, la Loi de penalisation des genocides -dont le genocide armenien-
obeit a cette logique. Elle n’est ni liberticide et ni memorielle. Elle
emane tout simplement de citoyens d’origine armenienne qui sont chaque
jour victimes d’attaques negationnistes et cela en France meme. Les
recents editoriaux du Nouvel Observateur ou de Paris Match ne sont
que l’illustration d’une partie de ces agressions negationnistes
qui visent a bafouer la memoire humaine et discrediter le combat
des Armeniens pour la Justice. Aussi, messieurs les Senateurs, ayez
le courage de rendre cette Justice, au nom de la France et de ses
valeurs fondees sur la justice, l’egalite et les droits de l’homme “.

Valence, le 18 Janvier 2012

TOUMANIAN DOIT SE RETOUNER DANS SA TOMBE
Gari

armenews.com
vendredi 20 janvier 2012

Un homme d’affaires georgien qui avait pu acquerir quatre des
septs pièces de la maison dans laquelle vecut le grand ecrivain
armenien Hovannes Toumanian a mis en en vente sa propriete, suscitant
l’emoi de la communaute armenienne de Georgie et de l’Armenie, dont
le gouvernement envoyait une delegation a Tbilisi pour tenter de
regler le problème. Car l’operation immobilière, en apparence anodine,
risque de degenerer en incident diplomatique, le proprietaire georgien,
Archil Lezhav, fils d’un riche homme d’affaires de Tbilisi, ayant emis
l’intention de ceder son bien a une joint venture turco-georgienne,
GeoTuran.

La transaction est justifiee par des arguments humanitaires, le
proprietaire pretextant que la vente servirait a payer les soins
medicaux de son père.

Quelques semaines auparavant, l’Union des Armeniens de Tbilisi avait
tire la sonnette d’alarme, en publiant un communique dans lequel elle
rappelait que “le monument historique etait devenu la propriete d’un
homme d’affaires dans les annees 1990. L’homme d’affaires avait mis
en vente son bien immobilier, et la joint venture turco-georgienne
‘GeoTuran’ veut se porter acquereur de ce bien pour en faire un hôtel
ayant vocation a accueillir des travailleurs turcs.

La direction de la compagnie a meme demande a l’arrière petite-fille
du grand poète armenien, Alina Tumanian, qui occupe l’autre partie
de l’immeuble, de la lui vendre, mais elle a rejete cette offre”.

Lors d’une conference de presse le 18 janvier a Erevan, Irma
Safrazbekyan, l’un des descendants de Toumanian, avait regretted
que l’Armenie ne se soit pas portee elle-meme acquereur de la maison
quand il en etait encore temps. “Avec mon epoux, j’ai eu l’occasion de
rencontrer Lezhav senior en 2004. C’etait un homme fort sympathique,
qui savait qui etait Toumanian et connaissait son importance, et etait
donc oppose a toute initiative visant a denaturer sa maison familiale.

Il aurait ete alors dispose a ceder le bien immobilier pour un montant
de 25 000 dollars.

Mais a l’epoque, le gouvernement armenian avait fait valoir qu’il ne
pouvait pas debloquer une telle somme”, pourtant bien en dessous de
la valeur immobiliaire pour ne pas dire historique et symbolique,
du lieu”, a explique Mme Safrazbekyan devant les journalistes. La
vente annoncee a la societe turco-georgienne a pourtant finalement
fait reagir le gouvernement armenien, qui a envoye a Tbilisi
une delegation conduite par le president de l’Union des ecrivains
d’Armenie, Levon Ananian, en vue de negocier avec Lezhava junior. La
lenteur du gouvernement armenien devrait lui coûter cher, s’il veut
vraiment respecter les mannes de Toumanian et empecher que de nouveaux
proprietaires turco-georgiens leur fassent offense. M.Ananian a indique
que conformement aux cours de l’immobilier actuellement a Tbilisi,
l’appartement de quelque 120 m² coûterait environ 70 000 dollars.

Des representants de Georgia Touran avaient rendu visite la veille a
Alyona Toumanian, l’arrière petite-fille du poète, pour lui demander
de leur ceder les trois autres pièces dont elle est proprietaire. Elle
a adresse une fin de non recevoir a leur demande. Alyona Toumanian
a fait savoir a Irma Safrazbekyan qu’elle n’accepterait de ceder son
bien qu’a la seule condition que Lezhava accepte quant a lui de ceder
les quatre pièces dont il est proprietaire a la communaute armenienne,
et rendre ainsi au lieu sa vocation culturelle. L’ecrivain et critique
litteraire Hovik Charkhchian s’est pour sa part montre confidant
quant a l’issue de la mission de la delegation armenienne a Tbilisi.

DINK MURDER CAN’T BE TREATED LIKE REGULAR CRIME, POLITICIANS SAY

Today’s Zaman
Jan 20 2012
Turkey

The final verdict in the five-year-long Hrant Dink murder trial, which
established that the suspects had no ties to a larger crime network
but acted alone, cannot be true, more politicians and commentators
continued to assert on Friday.

In a related note, the prosecutor in the court case concerning the
2007 killing of prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist Dink slammed the
judge hearing the trial for failing to deliver a fair decision amid
growing outrage over a trial many feel has failed to shed light on
alleged official negligence or even collusion. The judge presiding
over the 14th Ä°stanbul High Criminal Court sentenced Yasin Hayal
to life imprisonment and acquitted 19 defendants charged with being
part of a terrorist group. A juvenile court sentenced Dink’s assassin,
Ogun Samast, to 22 years, 10 months in jail last July. He was 17 when
he committed the murder.

Prosecutor Hikmet Usta said in a two-page long petition as part
of his appeal of the verdict, which was delivered on Tuesday, that
there was sufficient evidence to establish the murder was the result
of efforts by an organized criminal group. The prosecutor’s comments
came in response to presiding judge Rustem Eryılmaz’s earlier remarks
published in Vatan daily Thursday.

The judge had commented that while he personally cannot deny the murder
was the work of an organized network, the evidence submitted to the
court was not sufficient to issue such a ruling. In his petition,
Usta acknowledged that judges are independent in delivering decisions.

However, he dismissed Eryılmaz’s argument that there was not enough
evidence to establish the involvement of an organized criminal network.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also commented on the case on
Friday, expressing his hope that the Supreme Court of Appeals “will
clear up any doubts” with regards to the Dink murder trial.

“The [trial] process has not been completed yet; it is in the appeals
phase. I hope the judiciary will clear up doubts during the appeals
process and take steps that will ease the public’s conscience,”
Erdogan said in Ankara during the launch of an urban transformation
project on Friday. “No plot or provocation will remain secret. No
murder will remain unsolved,” the prime minister added.

Also on Friday, Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin joined the debate
saying the prosecutor has now petitioned for an appeal, and he called
on all sides to continue monitoring the process with calm. “Judges and
prosecutors speak through their written resolutions or legal queries.

I think what most of the press reported as the ‘prosecutor’s response’
to the judge were actually statements from his petition. Any other
evaluation or comment would simply hurt the process. The bullets that
were shot at Dink were [also] shot at Turkey’s solidarity, peace and
brotherhood,” he stated.

He added that the government was disturbed by the truth about shady
crimes not being brought to light, but noted that they have taken
significant steps in this direction. However, he noted that the
government was working hard to make sure that the invisible faces
behind the Dink murder and other shady incidents — such as the
massacres of Alevis in MaraÅ~_, Corum and Sivas or the Council of
State shooting in 2006 — are revealed. “This is the first time this
country is investigating past unsolved murders,” he said.

Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıcdaroglu also
commented on the verdict on Friday. “The verdict, which found no
organized criminal connection to the Dink murder, is obviously not
the right decision,” he said. “There have been hundreds of articles
and books published about this. The existence of an organized network
has been well documented.”

“And now the judge and the prosecutor are clashing horns over that
verdict. This further shows that it was wrong. Since then there have
been many protests against the verdict, and it has also not been a
verdict that was accepted as just by the public,” he added. The CHP
leader blamed the government’s intervention for the ruling.

Another person who publicly criticized the ruling was Ä°stanbul
Deputy Prosecutor Fikret Secen, who has conducted investigations
into activities associated with organized crime. He told journalist
Taha Akyol that he believed the Dink killing was the work of an
organized criminal gang. He also said he was going to petition the
Supreme Court of Appeals and challenge the ruling. “It might or
might not be connected, on the basis of the legal evidence we have,
to Ergenekon [a clandestine network charged with plotting to overthrow
the government],” he suggested.

Secen added that the Ä°stanbul prosecutor’s office was currently
conducting an investigation into the alleged negligence of a number
of police department and gendarmerie intelligence officers who,
Dink family lawyers say, acted either in collusion with the killers
or didn’t do anything to prevent the assassination despite having
knowledge of plans to kill Dink. In other words, the Dink murder
investigation is still under way apart from the process that was
launched at the Supreme Court of Appeals with the prosecutor’s petition
of the final verdict.

Secen also said his office was examining the records of cell phone
numbers found by the Telecommunications Administration (TÄ°B) that were
active in the vicinity of the crime scene at the time of the murder.

THE HRANT DINK CASE, TURKEY’S CASE

Today’s Zaman
Jan 20 2012
Turkey

Following a five-year-long trial, the court last week announced the
verdict in the Hrant Dink murder case.

The judge declared at the end that this hideous murder was an ordinary
crime and not one committed by a shady network. In order words, the
court wants us to believe that the killing of the editor-in-chief of
the Armenian weekly newspaper Agos was not a political murder and that
the “deep state” was not involved at all. This verdict proves once
more that in this country the law exists to protect primarily the
state and not the individuals. It is true that the judicial process
of this case is not totally over as the court of appeals can still
overturn this. However, we can already say that Turkey is about to
miss a golden opportunity as the Dink case is not only about the
murder of an individual; it has many other dimensions.

Studying the process leading to the murder of Dink offers us the
opportunity to discuss the freedom of expression issues in our
country. During this process, we’ve seen with our own eyes that
the state felt free to threaten a journalist, asking him to be
“more careful” in his publications. His killing has also reminded
everyone of the complexity of the Armenian problem and the problems
all minorities face in Turkey. Naturally, initiating a fair debate
about the Armenian issue involves a discussion about the deep state
and its evolution in Turkish political history.

During the trial, some people tried to limit the case to the person
who pulled the trigger in order to hide an entire mechanism that led
to this murder. Besides, as the killer is identified as a minor who
was misled, they have managed to prevent a comprehensive discussion
about racism or discrimination issues.

Racist and discriminatory practices are so frequent in our daily lives
that sometimes we don’t even notice them. People are so used to it
that they don’t even think of these behaviors as crimes. There are
still people in Turkey who think that the army’s role in political
life is acceptable and that the deep state’s actions in order to pave
the way for a military coup can sometimes be justified.

The Dink case was a good opportunity for a big “cleanup” by linking
all cases related to the coup attempts because the very background
of the Dink murder can be traced to laying the groundwork for a coup.

If the court of appeals chooses not to change the verdict, the social
conscience will be hurt again. Besides, people will believe more than
ever that the deep state’s crimes will never be punished. It will
also damage the court cases of the coup perpetrators, and some people
will be able to claim that the suspects in the Ergenekon case are in
prison not because they were plotting against the government but simply
because they are against the Justice and Development Party (AK Party).

If the Ergenekon case loses credibility, then the Kurdish Communities
Union (KCK) members will be the only ones who remain in prison. That
will severely hurt the AK Party as people will then be able to claim
that the government is antagonizing the Kurds.

>From his murder until the court’s verdict, every aspect of the Dink
case was used against the government. Perhaps some people have tried
to achieve through this case what they couldn’t by force.

This scenario shows that there are still people who target the
AK Party through the deep state mechanisms, but this truth is not
enough to say that the AK Party is the victim here. Because it is a
fact that the government didn’t put all its weight behind solving the
Dink case and it didn’t accelerate reforms at legal, administrative
and functional levels to prevent similar situations in the future.

TURKEY SAYS FRENCH PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE MOVE SHOWS ARMENIAN BILL UNLAWFUL

Anadolu Agency
Jan 18 2012
Turkey

BRUSSELS (A.A) -January 18, 2012 -Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu on Wednesday said a French bill over the Armenian allegations
on the Ottoman era incidents of 1915 was unlawful “even by French
laws,” which he said was clearly shown by a French parliamentary
committee decision to propose to drop the bill off the agenda without
debating it at the Senate floor.

“This shows that the attempt is unlawful even by the standards of
the French laws. We hope that the French Senate will act wisely and
drop it off the agenda even before debating it,” Davutoglu told the
Anadolu Agency.

The bill is set to come to the Senate floor next Monday but French
Senate members could vote to uphold the Legislations Committee’s
decision and drop the bill off the agenda without debating it.

The bill, which got the approval of the lower house of the French
parliament, makes denial of Ottoman era incidents of 1915 punishable
in France with a prison term of one year and a fine of 45 thousand.

A similar bill – proposed by the Socialist Party – was approved in
2006 by the lower house but the Senate rejected to debate the bill
last May when it upheld the committee’s decision back then.

ARMENIAN, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS DISCUSS FORTHCOMING TALKS WITH AZERBAIJAN

Mediamax
Jan 18 2012
Armenia

Yerevan, 18 January: A meeting of the foreign ministers of Armenia
and Russia, Edvard Nalbandyan and Sergey Lavrov, was held in Moscow
on 17 January.

“The interlocutors exchanged opinions on issues related to the
preparation of the forthcoming trilateral meeting of the Russian,
Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents,” the press service of the Armenian
Foreign Ministry reported.

Addressing a press conference in Yerevan on 16 January, Edvard
Nalbandyan said that the date and the place of the trilateral meeting
will be announced later.