Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !

The Grand Turk

Trabzon intelligence police knew about Dink's hitman before murder

2015-10-10

[Hurriyet Daily News] An Istanbul prosecutor has unearthed files which show that Trabzon police intelligence had known about Ogun Samast, the hitman in Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink's murder, before the incident took place. Gökalp Kökcu, the chief public prosecutor heading the investigation, believes that the Trabzon police intelligence unit was told by Erhan Tuncel, a police informant at the time, that a person named Ogun had been chosen as the hitman for Dink's murder before the incident took place in Istanbul in January 2007. Samast assassinated Dink in broad daylight on a busy street outside of the office of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos in Istanbul's Sisli district. Samast is serving a sentence of 22 years and 10 months in a high-security prison. Yasin Hayal and Tuncel were accused of encouraging Samast to kill Dink in the Black Sea province of Trabzon.

Link

Europe

Italy protests music video of Turkish singer praising priest's murder

2007-09-19

Rome, 19 Sept. (AKI) - Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi has strongly criticised a video clip by a famous Turkish folk singer singing about the death of priest Andrea Santoro. According to a statement, Prodi telephoned the Italian Ambassador Carlo Marsili in Ankara on Tuesday and "expressed his displeasure, and that of the Italian government, following the news of a music video where the homicide of Don Santoro is celebrated". In the clip posted on YouTube.com folk singer Ismail Turut's voice can be heard singing the song "Do not make any plans" with lyrics by poet Ozan Arif. The song is accompanied by images showing Ogun Samast, the teenager who allegedly shot dead ethnic Armenian journalist, Hrant Dink in Istanbul on 19 January as well as a suspected accomplice, Yasin Hayal, who was also implicated in the 2004 bombing of a McDonald's restaurant. Monsignor Luigi Padovese, apostolic vicar in Turkey, in an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI) called the video a "repugnant act" which does not express the feelings of the community. Other images include those of a wolf, apparently symbolising the ultra-rightwing Grey Wolves group, and one of the group's most notorious members, Mehmet Ali Agca who shot and wounded Pope John Paul II in 1981. Prosecutors are considering whether Turut, Arif or the unknown person who created the video could be charged with inciting hatred. "If they find me guilty, I am ready to serve the punishment. However, I am not guilty" Turut has said in response to the probe. The image of Dink, an advocate for the claim that the mass deaths of Armenians under Ottoman rule during the World War I period was genocide - appears when the lyrics "whoever betrays the country, he will be finished off" are sung. The images on the video showing the murdered Italian priest have been removed, and the Italian Ambassador has pledged to continue to work closely with the local authorities to avert future similar cases. The clip has received considerable media attention in Turkey and has outraged activist groups with two, the Human Rights Association in Turkey and the Association of Solidarity for Oppressed People, announcing they would file lawsuits against Turut and Arif.

Link

Europe

Turkish police: two confess in Dink killing

2007-01-23

ISTANBUL, Turkey --A nationalist militant convicted of bombing a McDonald's restaurant in 2004 has confessed to inciting the killing of an ethnic Armenian journalist last week, police said Monday. Yasin Hayal told police he provided a gun and money to the teenager who is suspected of carrying out Friday's shooting, the Hurriyet newspaper reported, citing police records. The teenager, Ogun Samast, was arrested over the weekend along with several other people and has confessed to fatally shooting the journalist, according to a chief prosecutor. Police confirmed the confession, but gave no details. The #7 truncheon, works every time. Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah of Istanbul said Monday that the suspect was linked to Hayal. If accurate, Hayal's reported statements to police would be a strong indication that the journalist, Hrant Dink, was targeted because of his public statements on the mass killings of Armenians by Turks in the early 20th century, one of the nation's most sensitive and divisive issues. Istanbul Gov. Muammer Guler said prosecutors were still investigating whether the suspect was linked to any organization, although Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah had said earlier that there was "no political or organizational dimension" to the slaying. Since he doesn't consider Islam to have any political organizational dimension, he might actually have been sincere with that statement. Hayal was convicted in the bombing of a McDonald's restaurant in Trabzon in 2004 that injured six people. He was released after serving more than 10 months in prison. At the time, police could not establish a link between Hayal and any underground groups, and his motive was never clear. This is what happens, Europe, when you let terrorists out of prison after a few months.

Link

Europe

Accomplice in Dink Murder Trained in Chechen Camp in Azerbaijan?

2007-01-23

Gateway Pundit is all over this. /PanARMENIAN.Net/ The investigators of Hrant Dink’s assassination informed that a group of nationalist teenagers are involved in the crime. The criminal grouping was headed by Yasin Hayal, who was earlier tried for setting a bomb at a McDonald's in Trabzon. According to Milliyet newspaper, 17-year-old Ogün Samast, arrested yesterday over suspicion of Dink’s killing, received the gun from Hayal. At that both were members of the “Center of Islamic Order” ultra-right organization. You don't really think the kid got the idea all by himself, do you. The edition reminds that after the arrest in Trabzon Hayal shouted out in the court, “I did it to punish Americans. I’ll get free in three years and will blow up HSBC Bank and the Russian Consulate.” Meanwhile Istanbul Prosecutor Aykut Cengiz Engin told journalists on Sunday that the investigation did not reveal involvement of any organization in Dink’s killing. “The investigation is carried out in all directions. Presently seven people are being vigorously interrogated,” he said. Samast said he committed the crime because of the journalist’s writing. I am not sorry, he added, reports RIA Novosti. International Herald Tribune says Yasin Hayal was trained to make bombs at a camp of Chechen militants in Azerbaijan. We're supposed to have a decent relationship with the Azeris. We ought to be talking with them about these camps.

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-4 More