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Reuters, UK
Jan 31 2007
Turkey charges seventh man over Dink murder
Wed 31 Jan 2007 15:43:15 GMT
ISTANBUL, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Turkey charged a seventh man over the
murder of Turkish-Armenian editor Hrant Dink on Wednesday, a court
official said.
Salih Hacisalihoglu, 30, was charged with belonging to an armed gang,
the official said. He was detained this week in the Black Sea town of
Trabzon, home of the other six men charged over the Jan. 19 killing.
Turkish newspapers say police were warned a year ago about a plot to
kill Dink and failed to act. Interior Ministry inspectors are due to
start investigating the handling of the case by Istanbul police on
Thursday, media said.
Dink was shot dead by a 17-year-old unemployed youth outside his
Istanbul office. His funeral drew some 100,000 mourners on to the
streets to protest at the militant nationalism which apparently
inspired his killer.
Police are still questioning four people in the case.
Inspectors have already examined the Trabzon police handling of the
case and were also questioning officials in the Black Sea town of
Samsun, where the murder suspect Ogun Samast was caught.
The government has dismissed Trabzon's governor and police chief over
the Dink case.
Dink, 52, was a hate figure for ultra-nationalists because of his
comments on the mass killing of Armenians on Turkish soil in 1915,
still a highly sensitive issue in this European Union candidate
country.
Eighteen writers and journalists have been granted police protection
since Dink's murder, an official at the Istanbul governor's office
told Reuters.
German publishers said on Wednesday Nobel-prize winning Turkish
novelist Orhan Pamuk had cancelled a trip to Germany at short notice
over concerns for his personal safety.
Pamuk, like Dink, has been prosecuted under laws restricting freedom
of expression in Turkey over comments he made on the mass killing of
Armenians during World War One. (Additional reporting by Emma
Ross-Thomas in Istanbul, Madeline Chambers in Berlin)
Jan 31 2007
Turkey charges seventh man over Dink murder
Wed 31 Jan 2007 15:43:15 GMT
ISTANBUL, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Turkey charged a seventh man over the
murder of Turkish-Armenian editor Hrant Dink on Wednesday, a court
official said.
Salih Hacisalihoglu, 30, was charged with belonging to an armed gang,
the official said. He was detained this week in the Black Sea town of
Trabzon, home of the other six men charged over the Jan. 19 killing.
Turkish newspapers say police were warned a year ago about a plot to
kill Dink and failed to act. Interior Ministry inspectors are due to
start investigating the handling of the case by Istanbul police on
Thursday, media said.
Dink was shot dead by a 17-year-old unemployed youth outside his
Istanbul office. His funeral drew some 100,000 mourners on to the
streets to protest at the militant nationalism which apparently
inspired his killer.
Police are still questioning four people in the case.
Inspectors have already examined the Trabzon police handling of the
case and were also questioning officials in the Black Sea town of
Samsun, where the murder suspect Ogun Samast was caught.
The government has dismissed Trabzon's governor and police chief over
the Dink case.
Dink, 52, was a hate figure for ultra-nationalists because of his
comments on the mass killing of Armenians on Turkish soil in 1915,
still a highly sensitive issue in this European Union candidate
country.
Eighteen writers and journalists have been granted police protection
since Dink's murder, an official at the Istanbul governor's office
told Reuters.
German publishers said on Wednesday Nobel-prize winning Turkish
novelist Orhan Pamuk had cancelled a trip to Germany at short notice
over concerns for his personal safety.
Pamuk, like Dink, has been prosecuted under laws restricting freedom
of expression in Turkey over comments he made on the mass killing of
Armenians during World War One. (Additional reporting by Emma
Ross-Thomas in Istanbul, Madeline Chambers in Berlin)