PARLIAMENT MAY SET UP COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE UNSOLVED MURDERS
Today’s Zaman
Feb 11 2010
Turkey
Family members of individuals who were assassinated for political
reasons who have voiced demands for the perpetrators and real
masterminds behind the killings to be brought to justice should be
supported, Parliamentary Human Rights Commission Chairman Zafer Uskul
stated on Tuesday, noting that Parliament should set up a research
commission to look into these.
Relatives of a number of figures assassinated in shady murders that
have remained unsolved for many years attended Monday’s hearing in
the trial of suspects in the murder of Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian
journalist fatally shot by an ultranationalist teenager outside the
Agos weekly in 2007.
Nukhet Ä°pekci, the daughter of journalist Abdi Ä°pekci, who was killed
in 1979; Sezen Oz, the wife of prosecutor Dogan Oz, who was killed in
1978 while investigating illegal structures inside the military and
other state agencies; and Filiz Ali, the daughter of socialist writer
Sabahattin Ali, who was killed in 1948, attended the Dink trial on
Tuesday to show their support for Dink’s family. The families said in
a joint statement: "We are a growing family in a country where lives
are taken incessantly. We do not want this family to grow anymore."
Uskul on Tuesday afternoon expressed support for the families, saying:
"It should be researched what can be done about this. Too much time
has passed since some of these murders. However, what they say in
unison is important. They are saying, ‘Illuminate the Dink murder,
so we can at least feel some peace.’ Of course, all of these murders
should be explained, but solving the Dink murder will give them some
peace of mind. I think setting up a research commission in this regard
could be effective."
Relatives of a number of people assassinated in shady murders that
have remained unsolved for many years attended Monday’s hearing of
the trial of the Hrant Dink murder suspects.
Families of victims of unsolved murders went to Parliament
yesterday, where they submitted a petition for the establishment
of an investigative commission. The group met with the Justice and
Development Party (AK Party) group at 10:30 am and then with members
of the Parliamentary Human Rights Commission at 11. At 12, they came
together with Republican People’s Party (CHP) group members, followed
by meetings with the Democratic Left Party (DSP), Parliament Speaker
Mehmet Ali Å~^ahin and the Peace and Democratic Party (BDP). The
families who were at Parliament yesterday include relatives of
writer Ali, killed in 1948; prosecutor Oz, killed in 1978; journalist
Ä°pekci, killed in 1979; Police Chief Cevat Yurdakul, killed in 1979;
academic Cavit Orhan Tutengil, also killed in 1979; journalist Umit
Kaftancıoglu, killed in 1980; Sevinc Ozguner, killed in 1980; union
leader Kemal Turkler, killed in 1980; writer Ä°lhan Erdost, killed
while in police custody in 1980; journalist Cetin Emec, killed in 1990;
Kurdish writer Musa Anter, killed in 1992; journalist Ugur Mumcu,
killed in 1997; poets Nesimi Cimen, Metin Altıok and Behcet Aysan and
musician Hasret Gultekin, burnt to death in the 1993 Sivas Massacre;
writer Onat Kutlar, killed in 1994; archaeologist Yasemin Cebenoyan,
killed in 1994; Hasan Ocak, killed while in police custody in 1995;
journalist Metin Göktepe, beaten to death by police in 1996; and the
Dink family. The family of Necip Hablemitoglu, a scientist killed in
2002, was also present. Hablemitoglu’s murder, initially blamed on
religious groups, is now believed to be linked to the coup-plotting
group Ergenekon.
Dink murder trial Dink was shot by an ultranationalist teenager,
but the ensuing investigation revealed that a number of officers,
including those of senior ranks, knew about a plot to assassinate
Dink. A gang operating according to a chain of command was revealed
to be behind the murder.
Currently, there are 20 suspects in the trial, but Dink family lawyers
believe the real person or group that manipulated these individuals
has evaded justice. Also, none of the police officers who failed to
act despite being tipped off about the plot were punished, further
adding to suspicion that there might be groups inside the security
forces protecting the perpetrators. Dink’s family also claimed that
Dink might have been killed as part of the Cage plan, an alleged
military plot to foment chaos in the country by killing non-Muslim
intellectuals and bombing mosques with the ultimate aim of toppling
the democratically elected Justice and Development Party (AK Party)
government.
Meanwhile, concerns about the safety of a witness whose identity is
being withheld for security purposes also emerged during Monday’s
hearing, when the police department and the court briefly blamed each
other for the absence of the witness, who was supposed to take the
stand that day. Some of the statements made during this confusion
revealed information about the witness’s ethnic identity and the
level of his Turkish skills. This witness, in earlier testimony to
the prosecutors, had claimed that contrary to police findings shots
were fired at the murder scene not only by Ogun Samast, the hit man in
the case, but also Yasin Hayal, who is currently accused of directing
Samast to kill Dink.