Hrant Dink Murdered: New Investigation

 Arshag Kevorkian, Turkey, 5 May 2016

A few hours after Hrant Dink was murdered in 2007, Turkish authorities declared the murderer was arrested thanks to the efforts of the police. The authorities stated that murderer Ogun Samast had killed the chief editor of Armenian "Agos" newspaper because of Dink's "anti-Turkish" bias. The murderer didn't receive any support from any group and the murder was not an organized assassination but the act of an individual nationalist act, the authorities said.

Through their statement, the authorities were trying to close the case. However, Dink's family and lawyers insisted the assassination was a well-organized murder by the Turkish Deep State. They based their assertion on a number of factors including the threats Dink had received from people and organizations whose connections to Deep State were well-known. Besides, Dink was called to the office of the governor of Istanbul where he was "warned" by deputy-governor Ergun Gungor that he should change his attitude or else things could get worse for him and the Armenian community.

 Arshag Kevorkian, Turkey, 5 May 2016

A few hours after Hrant Dink was murdered in 2007, Turkish authorities declared the murderer was arrested thanks to the efforts of the police. The authorities stated that murderer Ogun Samast had killed the chief editor of Armenian "Agos" newspaper because of Dink's "anti-Turkish" bias. The murderer didn't receive any support from any group and the murder was not an organized assassination but the act of an individual nationalist act, the authorities said.

Through their statement, the authorities were trying to close the case. However, Dink's family and lawyers insisted the assassination was a well-organized murder by the Turkish Deep State. They based their assertion on a number of factors including the threats Dink had received from people and organizations whose connections to Deep State were well-known. Besides, Dink was called to the office of the governor of Istanbul where he was "warned" by deputy-governor Ergun Gungor that he should change his attitude or else things could get worse for him and the Armenian community.

A few days after the arrest of Samast, the public was shocked to see a newspaper photo, probably shot by a policeman agent, where a smiling Samast was standing between two police officers  and was holding the Turkish flag.

According to Istanbul's public prosecutor's investigation, Dink's assassination had been photographed and videotaped from beginning to end by security cameras manned by a captain and five sergeants from the police intelligence department. Somehow, the photos and videos have disappeared.

A recent "Aksam" newspaper report maintains that the head of Turkish intelligence undertook another investigation and discovered new photos, videos, and telephone conversation in addition to photos of the same six officers of the police intelligence department.

The photos show the Jan. 19, 2007 date (the date of Dink's assassination) starting at 1 p.m. (two hours before the assassination) and images of the six police officers who are shown following the murderer before and after the killing.

Hakan Bakircioglu, one of Dink family lawyers, said in a TV interview that from very early on the family was certain the murder was not an individual act but was organized. The family hopes, the lawyer said, that as a result of the recent investigation, the judicial process will take a different course.