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DINK INVESTIGATION REVEALS STRIKING DETAILS
Emre Soncan, Ufuk KoroÐlu Ýstanbul
Today's Zaman, Turkey
March 28 2007
The local branch head of the nationalist political party BBP, detained
as part of an investigation into the murder of ethnic Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink, had met with one of the key murder suspects
10 days before the killing, a police interrogation uncovered.
Yaþar Cihan, head of the Trabzon branch of the conservative nationalist
Grand Unity Party (BBP), who was detained as part of an investigation
into the January killing of journalist Hrant Dink, was questioned,
first by the police and then by the prosecutors, about the case
on Tuesday.
Five people were arrested on Sunday in Trabzon and taken to Ýstanbul
for questioning, including Cihan and a member of the branch committee,
Halis Egemen. Cihan was picked up after a photo was found of him with
the BBP leader and Erhan Tuncel, one of the suspected masterminds of
the killing and a police informant.
In his testimony, the file of which Today's Zaman was able to view,
Cihan admitted to having spoken on the phone with Tuncel five or 10
days prior to the murder. Cihan said he had phoned Tuncel to make an
appointment to exchange opinions on political inclinations among youth
groups affiliated with the party, but the meeting never took place as
Tuncel said he had no time due to examinations he was required to take.
Cihan also said Tuncel was a regular customer of his Cihan Coal
Company. Cihan said he had no knowledge about a bombing at a Trabzon
McDonald's restaurant, carried out by Yasin Hayal, another key suspect
in the case, two years ago. However, Cihan allegedly assisted the
family of Hayal, said to be the inciter of the Dink murder, with YTL
1,000 when he was in prison but insisted it was part of donations he
regularly makes to needy families. Cihan said he first met Hayal in
2001 at a nationalist youth organization that Hayal frequented.
"He seemed to be aggressive. I always kept a distance, thinking his
aggression could one day get out of hand. I don't know what sort of
people he hangs out with. He once visited me in my office when he
got out of jail," Cihan testified, saying that was the last time he
saw Hayal.
In his testimony, Cihan said he would never have guessed that Tuncel
would take part in such an act, saying: "He was very cultured person;
he read a lot. Occasionally he would say radical things, but I've
never heard him speak about terrorism or bombings. He was generally
good at commenting about recent events, and he was much better behaved
than most of the young people I meet."
Cihan said in his testimony he didn't know O.S., the teenager who
allegedly shot Hrant Dink. Speaking to the media shortly after his
release, the BBP member said he was ready to testify at any time,
if that should prove be necessary.
BBP members detained as result of phone tapping
In related developments, reports on Tuesday said the two BBP members
detained in Trabzon on Sunday were held by the police because of
records showing they spoke to Tuncel on his phone. Sources told Today's
Zaman that the Trabzon police intelligence unit had been monitoring
the phone conversations of Tuncel, a dark figure said to be a police
informant, information which was neither confirmed nor denied by
authorities. An Interior Ministry report on the murder investigation
by national security chiefs that was leaked to the media accuses
Ýstanbul police chief Celalettin Cerrah of failing to protect Dink,
who was shot dead outside the offices of his weekly newspaper Agos,
even though the Trabzon police had warned their Ýstanbul colleagues
of a plot to kill Dink. News reports had said that Tuncel had warned
the Trabzon police 17 times about the plot before they passed the
message on to Ýstanbul.
--Boundary_(ID_H4ZnxabTZTX05kdIGIc DNw)--
Emre Soncan, Ufuk KoroÐlu Ýstanbul
Today's Zaman, Turkey
March 28 2007
The local branch head of the nationalist political party BBP, detained
as part of an investigation into the murder of ethnic Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink, had met with one of the key murder suspects
10 days before the killing, a police interrogation uncovered.
Yaþar Cihan, head of the Trabzon branch of the conservative nationalist
Grand Unity Party (BBP), who was detained as part of an investigation
into the January killing of journalist Hrant Dink, was questioned,
first by the police and then by the prosecutors, about the case
on Tuesday.
Five people were arrested on Sunday in Trabzon and taken to Ýstanbul
for questioning, including Cihan and a member of the branch committee,
Halis Egemen. Cihan was picked up after a photo was found of him with
the BBP leader and Erhan Tuncel, one of the suspected masterminds of
the killing and a police informant.
In his testimony, the file of which Today's Zaman was able to view,
Cihan admitted to having spoken on the phone with Tuncel five or 10
days prior to the murder. Cihan said he had phoned Tuncel to make an
appointment to exchange opinions on political inclinations among youth
groups affiliated with the party, but the meeting never took place as
Tuncel said he had no time due to examinations he was required to take.
Cihan also said Tuncel was a regular customer of his Cihan Coal
Company. Cihan said he had no knowledge about a bombing at a Trabzon
McDonald's restaurant, carried out by Yasin Hayal, another key suspect
in the case, two years ago. However, Cihan allegedly assisted the
family of Hayal, said to be the inciter of the Dink murder, with YTL
1,000 when he was in prison but insisted it was part of donations he
regularly makes to needy families. Cihan said he first met Hayal in
2001 at a nationalist youth organization that Hayal frequented.
"He seemed to be aggressive. I always kept a distance, thinking his
aggression could one day get out of hand. I don't know what sort of
people he hangs out with. He once visited me in my office when he
got out of jail," Cihan testified, saying that was the last time he
saw Hayal.
In his testimony, Cihan said he would never have guessed that Tuncel
would take part in such an act, saying: "He was very cultured person;
he read a lot. Occasionally he would say radical things, but I've
never heard him speak about terrorism or bombings. He was generally
good at commenting about recent events, and he was much better behaved
than most of the young people I meet."
Cihan said in his testimony he didn't know O.S., the teenager who
allegedly shot Hrant Dink. Speaking to the media shortly after his
release, the BBP member said he was ready to testify at any time,
if that should prove be necessary.
BBP members detained as result of phone tapping
In related developments, reports on Tuesday said the two BBP members
detained in Trabzon on Sunday were held by the police because of
records showing they spoke to Tuncel on his phone. Sources told Today's
Zaman that the Trabzon police intelligence unit had been monitoring
the phone conversations of Tuncel, a dark figure said to be a police
informant, information which was neither confirmed nor denied by
authorities. An Interior Ministry report on the murder investigation
by national security chiefs that was leaked to the media accuses
Ýstanbul police chief Celalettin Cerrah of failing to protect Dink,
who was shot dead outside the offices of his weekly newspaper Agos,
even though the Trabzon police had warned their Ýstanbul colleagues
of a plot to kill Dink. News reports had said that Tuncel had warned
the Trabzon police 17 times about the plot before they passed the
message on to Ýstanbul.
--Boundary_(ID_H4ZnxabTZTX05kdIGIc DNw)--