In Turkey, alleged killers of ethnic Armenian journalist go on trial
next week
CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, AP Worldstream
Published: Jun 30, 2007
The trial of the alleged killers of an ethnic Armenian journalist
begins next week in what human rights advocates say is a test of
whether Turkey’s judiciary is willing to search for any signs of
official negligence or even collusion in the slaying.
The Jan. 19 slaying of Hrant Dink triggered international condemnation
and debate within Turkey about free speech, ethnic tensions and the
excesses of nationalism. Dink was detested by hardline nationalists
because he described the mass killings of Armenians early in the last
century as genocide.
Police quickly arrested the alleged teenage gunman and accomplices, and
a total of 18 people will go on trial for the killing in an Istanbul
court on Monday. But critics accused authorities of failing to act on
reports of a plot to kill Dink, and it is unclear whether allegations
that could be potentially embarrassing for top officials will be
explored in the trial.
"Hrant Dink’s murder trial is a critical test of the Turkish
judiciary’s independence," Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia
director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement from New York on
Friday. "We will be closely watching how the court handles any evidence
that may implicate the security forces."
Turkey had vowed a thorough investigation, and the governor and police
chief of the Black Sea city of Trabzon, the hometown of accused gunman
Ogun Samast, were removed from office because of negligence. Some
security officials who posed for photographs with the gunman as he held
a Turkish flag were also dismissed.
So far, there has been no evidence that directly implicates any police
or government officials in the slaying of Dink outside his office.
Citing the indictment, Human Rights Watch noted that one of the three
main defendants had been a police informer.
Many Turks are convinced that a so-called "deep state" _ a network of
state agents or ex-officials, possibly with links to organized crime _
periodically targets reformists and other perceived enemies in the name
of nationalism.
Etyen Mahcupyan, who replaced Dink as chief editor at the ethnic
Armenian newspaper Agos, said officials in Ankara, the capital, had
been informed of threats to kill Dink. That report is contained in
court files compiled during the investigation, according to Fethiye
Cetin, a lawyer for Dink’s family.
"We know that there was no investigation in Ankara, which was absurd,"
Mahcupyan said in an interview. "It’s obvious that the judicial process
went as far as it can, and as far as there’s no risk involved, and
stopped there."
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said shortly after Dink’s killing
that his government would not hold back in its efforts to solve the
crime.
"I assigned the Justice Minister and the Interior Minister to find the
perpetrators and planners of this murder and hand them over to
officials," Erdogan said in January.
However, he said the judicial process leading up to the trial was
better than in many other cases in Turkey, whose often chaotic
democracy was interrupted by several military coups over the decades.
Today, the Islamic-oriented government is locked in a power struggle
with the military-backed, secular establishment, and early general
elections are set for July 22.
"If the country moves to a more democratic atmosphere, then the
performance of the judiciary will be different," Mahcupyan said. "But
if the country moves to the other side, then I think nothing will come
out of this trial."
Cetin, the lawyer, said the investigation was carried out under a
secrecy order, preventing relatives and colleagues of Dink from
contributing information that could have been helpful. Authorities have
often conducted investigations under such orders, arguing that
discretion can be vital to a successful probe.
Dink sought to encourage reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia. But
he was prosecuted under Article 301 of Turkey’s penal code, which bans
insults to Turkish identity, for his comments on the mass killings of
Armenians by Turks in the early 20th century. Remarks on that
tumultuous period of Turkish history led to legal problems for several
other prominent intellectuals, including novelist Orhan Pamuk, who won
the Nobel Prize in literature.
Dink’s death prompted calls for the revision or removal of Article 301,
which is viewed by the European Union as an obstacle to Turkey’s
efforts to join its club. No changes have been made.
—
AP reporter C. Onur Ant contributed to this report.