Ogün Samast, the convicted murderer of Hrant Dink, a renowned Armenian journalist and editor-in-chief of the newspaper Agos, was released on Wednesday, sparking a wave of condemnation and intense debate within the Turkish political sphere.

Samast assassinated Dink in a gun attack in front of the Agos office in Şişli, Istanbul, on 19 January 2007, and was released from Bolu F Type Prison under conditional release terms. A minor at the time of the crime, Samast served 16 years and 10 months, sentenced with “premeditated murder” and “possession of an unlicensed firearm”.

The Hrant Dink support group, known as ‘Hrant’ın Arkadaşları’, condemned the release, saying, “While the Hrant Dink murder remains unsolved, many of our friends, human rights defenders, journalists, and politicians are unjustly and unlawfully held in prisons, the murderer of Hrant Dink, Ogün Samast, has been released… There is no justice! No conscience! No integrity!”

Samast’s was reportedly released due to ‘good behaviour’. This decision has been met with strong criticism from various political leaders, who question the justification of releasing someone convicted of such a heinous crime.

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairman Özgür Özel expressed disbelief and dismay at the release, highlighting the premeditated nature of the murder and its significant impact on the Armenian community in Turkey. He criticised the notion of ‘good behaviour’ in the context of such a brutal act.

Further political reactions include Parliament Deputy Speaker Sırrı Süreyya Önder of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (HEDEP), who paid respects to Dink’s memory, and Gökhan Günaydın, Deputy Group Chairman of the CHP, who emphasised Dink’s role in bridging the Armenian-Turkish divide. Günaydın also raised concerns about the justice system, questioning the rationale behind Samast’s release while many prisoners of conscience remain incarcerated.

HEDEP Group Deputy Chairwoman Meral Danış Beştaş described the release as a “grave news”, contrasting it with the ongoing imprisonment of democrats and freedom of _expression_ advocates. Felicity Party Deputy Group Chairman İsa Mesih Şahin echoed these sentiments, criticising the paradox of releasing a convicted murderer while non-violent offenders remain jailed.

The release of Samast has reopened discussions on judicial reform and the influence of politics in legal proceedings, highlighting concerns over the treatment of criminals versus political prisoners in Turkey.

Hrant Dink’s assassination and subsequent legal proceedings

Dink was assassinated on 19 January 2007 by 17-year old Ogün Samast. Samast was arrested in Samsun the following day and incarcerated.

The court filed a criminal complaint against Samast and others for membership of the Fethullah Gülen Organisation (FETÖ), the group accused of plotting the 15 July 2016 coup attempt, linking the murder to their objectives.

Several individuals, including journalist Ercan Gün and former soldier Muharrem Demirkale, received varying prison sentences for related crimes. Cases against some former police chiefs were dismissed due to the statute of limitations.

The case involved 130 hearings, with the prosecution presenting its final opinion in December 2020. The prosecutor requested various outcomes for the defendants, including acquittals and punishments. Some defendants were arrested for prior knowledge of the murder, and others denied connections with FETÖ.

Following Dink’s assassination, the suspect was quickly identified from security footage. Controversy arose when images of Samast with police officers were broadcast, raising questions about official involvement in the murder.

At the funeral, Hrant Dink’s wife, Rakel Dink, said, “No matter their age, 17 or 27, no matter who the murderer is, I know they were once babies. Nothing can be done, my brothers, without questioning the darkness that turns a baby into a murderer.”

Hrant Dink’s family’s statement on court judgement

Dink’s family expressed strong dissatisfaction with the court’s judgment on his murder, stating it was “far from the truth”. They highlighted that the judgment failed to address the deeper state mechanisms and the broader context of events leading to Dink’s assassination.

Before his assassination, Dink had spoken about being targeted by deep state operations, as recalled by his family. He had written about being chosen as a target and mentioned this in his last speeches, indicating a systematic campaign against him.

The family criticised the investigation for neglecting key aspects and individuals mentioned by Dink, and for evidence spoliation and misdirection. They argued that the trial did not adequately address these issues, leading to a judgment that appears to punish the exposure of a crime rather than the crime itself.

The family pointed out the alleged connection between Dink’s murder and the FETÖ organisation, responsible for the 15 July 2016 coup attempt. They lamented that a timely and effective investigation into Dink’s murder could have potentially prevented the loss of many lives in subsequent years.

Questioning the integrity of the judiciary, the family suggested that the current environment is conducive to injustice and similar to the climate when Dink was targeted. They expressed concern about ongoing racism and the potential for future crimes if the deep state mechanism is not thoroughly investigated and dismantled.

Dink’s family continue to emphasise an urgent need for transparency, democracy and legal reform. They advocate for societal confrontation with the crime, the criminals’ confrontation with their actions, and institutional accountability.

https://medyanews.net/outcry-in-turkey-over-released-convicted-murderer-of-armenian-journalist-hrant-dink/

The problem of bias in French foreign policy towards South Caucasus is not a new phenomenon. France, alongside the US and Russia, was a member of the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) Minsk Group since its foundation in 1992 with the goal of seeking a negotiated resolution to the war that had take place between Armenia and Azerbaijan, writes Taras Kuzio.

The Minsk Group failed to achieve any breakthroughs during its three-decade existence and went into stagnation from 2010 when France and the US lost interest. With France and the US absent, Russia was able to capitalise on the vacuum during the Second Karabakh War as the main international negotiator and supplier of so-called ‘peacekeeping’ troops.

Throughout the decade prior to the Second Karabakh War, Baku became increasingly frustrated at France’s open bias in favour of Armenia. The reasons for this were two-fold. Firstly, France and the US have the largest Armenian diasporas outside the Russian Federation. Secondly, French foreign policy has supported Greece over Turkey and Armenia over Azerbaijan.

The US was little better as Washington had long punished Azerbaijan by denying it military assistance. US policy created a false impression that Azerbaijan was the guilty party in the conflict when in fact, Armenia was illegally occupying a fifth of internationally recognised Azerbaijani territory. Poor relations between Washington and Ankara reinforced lobbying by the Armenian diaspora.

France’s inability to adopt a balanced approach to the South Caucasus became evident after the Second Karabakh War when both houses of the French parliament voted to support Armenian separatism in Karabakh. In November 2020, 295 French Senators (with only one voting against) adopted a resolution to recognise Karabakh as an ‘independent’ republic. The next month, 188 deputies in the National Assembly voted (with only three opposed) to also recognise Karabakh as an independent ‘republic.’

France’s National Assembly also called upon the EU to end negotiations with Turkey on the accession process. Azerbaijan is collateral damage of widespread Turkophobia in France.

Support for Armenia is probably the only policy that has support across the entire French political spectrum. French President Emanuel Macron has never hidden his support for Armenia, saying, ‘France reconfirms its future friendship with the Armenian people in view of our close human, cultural and historic ties. We are on Armenia’s side in this dramatic context.’

Recently, France sold an air defence system to Armenia, a military ally and economic partner of Russia. Earlier this year, Paris supplied the same Thales GM 200 system to Ukraine. As Russia operates Armenia’s air defence, it is highly likely this technology will end up being scrutinised by the Russian military and even transferred to Russia.

France’s support for Armenia away from Ukraine was re-confirmed by the delivery of the first batch of 24 Bastion armoured vehicles from the French defence company Arquus to Armenia. Negotiations on the sending of these armoured personnel carriers to Ukraine had been taking place since October of last year ago.

Ukraine is fighting an existential war for survival; Armenia is not at war or under threat. Armenian claims that it is threatened by Azerbaijani territorial revanchism have no basis.

Armenia is a founding member of the Russian-led CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organisation). Although Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan did not attend the November 8 CSTO summit in Moscow this does not mean Armenia is considering an ‘Armexit’ from the organisation, despite his protestations of its ineffectiveness. Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanyan told journalists on November 9 that Armenia is currently not discussing the legal process of leaving the CSTO.

France’s security relationship with Armenia conflicts with NATO and the EU’s policies towards Russia and Iran with whom Armenia has long-term embedded security relationships. Armenia has yet to publicly state which side of the anti-Western axis of evil fence it is sitting. Indeed, if Yerevan is siding with the West, Yerevan must cut its security relationships with Russia and Iran.

France, like many EU members, would welcome Armenia’s integration into Europe but this should be grounded in the real world and not in the realm of fantasy. Deep Armenian-Russian relations are a product of three decades of integration that cannot be changed overnight. Armenia’s economy is heavily reliant on Russia through transfers from migrant workers, trade, and membership of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). Armenia is reliant on Russia and Iran for its energy.

France is jumping the gun in militarily supporting Armenia. Although the Kremlin supported the UK’s Brexit from the EU, there is no evidence Putin would permit Armenia’s ‘Armexit’ from the CSTO and EEU.

France’s bias towards Armenia and support for separatism in Azerbaijan sends a signal it’s sincerity cannot be trusted on the question of restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity. Meanwhile, France’s supply of military equipment to Armenia has compromised Ukraine’s air defence and security at a critical point in the war with Russia.

France pursues contradictory goals of restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity and encouraging Armenian separatism. Meanwhile, France’s supply of military equipment indirectly provides Russia and Iran with access to Western military equipment that constitutes a threat to both Ukrainian and Israeli security.

Taras Kuzio is a professor of political science at the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy and an associate research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society. He is the winner of the 2022 Peterson Literary Prize for the book “Russian Nationalism and the Russian-Ukrainian War: Autocracy-Orthodoxy-Nationality.”

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Thursday defended Yerevan’s decision to increase military spending next year, saying he was still committed to normalisation talks with arch foe Azerbaijan.

Baku and Yerevan have been locked in a decades-long territorial conflict over Azerbaijan’s Armenian-populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which Baku reclaimed in September in a lightning offensive.

Addressing lawmakers in Yerevan, Pashinyan said his government’s planned increase in defence spending by some seven percent next year “isn’t a preparation for war, but rather a preparation for peace.”

“I am confident, our neighbouring countries know it well that we are not going to attack anyone,” he said.

“Reforming armed forces is not only a right, but also an obligation of an independent country and that’s what we are doing.”

He also said that Yerevan’s “political will to sign, in the coming months, a peace agreement with Azerbaijan remains unwavering.”

Internationally mediated normalisation talks between the ex-Soviet republics have seen little progress but both Pashinyan and Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev pledged to sign a comprehensive peace agreement by the end of the year.

The pair have held several rounds of talks under EU mediation.

But last month, Aliyev refused to attend a round of negotiations with Pashinyan in Spain, over what he said was the “biased position” of one of the participants, France.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had been scheduled to join EU-chief Charles Michel as mediators at those talks.

So far, there has been no visible progress in EU efforts to organise a fresh round of negotiations.

Russia, the traditional power-broker in the region, has been bogged down in its war in Ukraine and Europe has taken a lead role in mediating the decades-long dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

https://guardian.ng/news/armenia-pm-defends-move-to-hike-military-budget/

The Israeli Occupation police in Jerusalem issued an evacuation order to local Armenians in the Armenian Quarter area, also known as the Cows' Garden in the Old City.

They accused them of property misappropriation, as reported by several Armenian news sources.

Residents expressed their resilience and said that the Armenian community of Jerusalem is resisting and will remain in the area.

The Israeli Occupation police are enforcing the directives of the Israeli Occupation settlers in the Armenian Quarter, demanding residents leave the area so that the besiegers can take control over it, he explained.

Since Nov. 12, a significant number of Jerusalemite Armenians, in collaboration with the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, have been protesting in the area.

Wednesday, the page Save the ArQ, went live from the are reporting on the gravity of the situation and calling on those who can join them in the protest to head to the area.

Residents have blocked access to the wall using vehicles and fences to prevent further unauthorized and illegal construction on Armenian property.

-Armenian Patriarchate-

The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem announced that it is facing the "greatest existential threat," according to Armen Press.

It explained that a development company called Xana sought to buy around 25 percent of the Armenian Quarter and ignored a letter by the patriarchate canceling the controversial real estate deal

The Armenian Patriarch, Archbishop Nourhan Manougian, had in the past leased the "Cows' Garden" to a Jewish businessman for 99 years; a decision that was deemed controversial and was eventually canceled.

A convoy of Israeli settlers' cars and motorcycles entered the Armenian Quarter in occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday, looking to usurp the Armenian-held area, the community has said in a statement. 

The Movement for the Protection and Preservation of the Armenian Quarter, in a post on Instagram, warned that tensions were high and that Israeli police had “without probable cause” arrested three Armenians, including a minor, while backing Israeli settlers. 

“Instead of removing the trespassers, the Israeli police permitted a few settlers to continue their presence intended to possess the Armenian property,” said the community in a statement. 

With Israel’s war on Gaza taking much of the world's attention, Israeli settlers in the occupied territories, including the Old City in East Jerusalem, have increasingly used the distraction to press illegal land claims.

The movement said that the attempt by Israeli settlers to overrun the “Armenian Gardens” – known as the “Cows' Garden” in the Old City of Jerusalem, was a “malicious attempt to change facts on the ground”.

“We are fighting now for the integrity of the Armenian and Christian quarters,” said Hagop Djernazian, a co-founder of the movement to save the Armenian quarter, and member of the Jerusalemite Armenian Community. 

The dispute started after the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem signed a murky and secretive deal with a company named Zana Capital, leasing the historical Armenian gardens, to build a luxury hotel, he explained.

'We may face an existential threat, not only to the Armenian presence in Jerusalem, but also to the Christian'

- Hagop Djernazian, activist

“Unfortunately this deal includes manipulations and fraud,” said Djernazian, speaking to Middle East Eye. 

The community now faces an existential threat from a deal that would see some 25 percent of the Armenian quarter sold on a 99-year lease to Israeli settler communities looking to purportedly build a luxury development. 

The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem announced on 26 October that a letter was sent to the companies managing the development that the deal would be cancelled. 

Though signed in 2021, the deal became public in 2023, when one of the Israeli businesses sought to take ownership, sparking protests from the Armenian community. 

“Since 26 October, the so-called Zana Company, which turns out was backed by settlers and Ateret Cohanim, a settler organisation trying to change the demographic makeup of the Old City into a Jewish majority, are trying to provoke and to take over parts of the land by force,” said Djernazian. 

Israeli settlers had attempted to intimidate the community and the movement to save the Armenian Quarter by, amongst other things, bringing bulldozers and trucks to demolish walls and the land, said Djernazian. 

“They brought in armed settlers two weeks ago to take over the land by force using armed settlers and attack dogs,” he added. 

“Yesterday and today the so-called company brought a security company so they can take over the land by force with the support and cooperation of the Israeli police.”

The far-right Israeli government, headed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which is also comprised of settlers, has created an even more permissive climate for such land grabs. 

A group of Armenians in cooperation with the Patriarchate, protested in the Armenian Quarter to stop illegal construction on their land (Movement to Protect Armenian Quarter)

“Authorities are not doing anything to save and help the Armenian community,” said Djernazian, adding that “they are doing the opposite of saving the Armenian community. They are pressuring us.”

Djernazian said that they now believe Israeli settlers are behind the deal whereby the land was initially sold to an Australian businessman. 

“These Israeli settlers are backed by the Israeli government, and ministers in the Israeli government are pressuring the community and putting the community in a great existential threat,” added Djernazian. 

The future of the Armenian community and more broadly that of the wider Christian community in the Old City now hangs in the balance. 

“If we succeed in this struggle to protect the integrity of the Armenian Quarter to protect our lands, we can continue and live in Jerusalem as we did since the fourth century by encouraging our youth to stay here,” said Djernazian. 

“But, unfortunately, if we do not succeed to cancel the deal officially, we may face an existential threat, not only to the Armenian presence in Jerusalem, but also to the Christian presence, because this deal puts the Armenian and Christian quarters in great danger,” added Djernazian.

“Christians should unite and join forces with the Armenians in order to protect the status quo and the mosaic of the holy city of Jerusalem and also for us to have a future in this city,” he added.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-settlers-jerusalem-take-over-armenian-quarter-force