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The Japan Times
Jan 20 2015
Ankara quells clashes as Turkish-Armenian journalist's assassination
is remembered
AFP-JIJI
ISTANBUL - Turkish police on Monday used pepper spray and water cannon
to disperse a protest in Ankara calling for justice over the murder of
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was shot dead in broad
daylight outside his offices eight years ago.
Thousands of people had marched though central Istanbul earlier on
Monday in a peaceful demonstration to remember Turkey's most notorious
killing of recent years that sent shockwaves around the country.
However, police moved in to disperse a smaller rally in central Ankara
in the evening as the protestors sought to march on the justice
ministry.
Twenty people were arrested as police used pepper spray and water
cannon to disperse the protest, the CNN-Turk television channel and
Radikal news site reported.
Holding signs in Turkish, Armenian and English reading "Justice for
Hrant," protesters in Istanbul had earlier rallied around the offices
of the Agos newspaper, a bilingual Turkish and Armenian weekly, which
he edited.
The Istanbul memorial rally is an annual event but was considerably
larger than in previous years.
Meanwhile, a young man brandished a gun at a rally for Dink in the
central city of Malatya -- where the journalist was born -- but was
rapidly arrested by police.
Dink, 52, was shot dead with two bullets to the head in broad daylight
outside the offices of Agos on Jan. 19, 2007.
Ogun Samast, then a 17-year-old jobless high-school dropout, confessed
to the murder and was sentenced to almost 23 years in jail in 2011.
But the murder grew into a wider scandal after it emerged that the
security forces knew of a plot to kill Dink, but failed to act.
A court on Monday remanded in custody Ercan Demir, who was police
intelligence chief of the Black Sea Trabzon region where the gunman
and his suspected accomplices came from, on charges of failing to act
on intelligence that could have prevented the murder.
Demir had been controversially named police chief of the southeastern
Sirnak province, but an arrest warrant was issued for him last week
and he turned himself into the police in Ankara.
Turkey had on Tuesday arrested two lower ranking policeman on charges
of negligence for failing to prevent the murder.
Dink, a major figure in Turkey's tiny but prominent Armenian
community, has long pushed for a reconciliation between Turks and
Armenians after decades of bitterness.
Armenians accuse Ottoman forces during World War I of carrying out a
genocide against their forebears that left an estimated 1.5 million
people dead. But modern Turkey has always vehemently resisted terming
the mass killings as genocide.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the tragedy and the date
appeared to give the Dink memorial march additional impetus.
Some at the Istanbul protest held banners referring to the events such
as "become conscious of the genocide along with Hrant Dink." Others
held cards reading: "We are all Hrant Dink, we are all Armenians."
Less than 10 percent of Turks believe their government should
recognize the mass killings of Armenians in World War I as genocide,
according to a survey published on Jan. 13.
Supporters of Dink's family have long feared that those behind the
murder were protected by the state and have asked for a deeper
investigation.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/01/20/world/ankara-quells-clashes-turkish-armenian-journalists-assassination-remembered/#.VL67RcYcRMs
Jan 20 2015
Ankara quells clashes as Turkish-Armenian journalist's assassination
is remembered
AFP-JIJI
ISTANBUL - Turkish police on Monday used pepper spray and water cannon
to disperse a protest in Ankara calling for justice over the murder of
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was shot dead in broad
daylight outside his offices eight years ago.
Thousands of people had marched though central Istanbul earlier on
Monday in a peaceful demonstration to remember Turkey's most notorious
killing of recent years that sent shockwaves around the country.
However, police moved in to disperse a smaller rally in central Ankara
in the evening as the protestors sought to march on the justice
ministry.
Twenty people were arrested as police used pepper spray and water
cannon to disperse the protest, the CNN-Turk television channel and
Radikal news site reported.
Holding signs in Turkish, Armenian and English reading "Justice for
Hrant," protesters in Istanbul had earlier rallied around the offices
of the Agos newspaper, a bilingual Turkish and Armenian weekly, which
he edited.
The Istanbul memorial rally is an annual event but was considerably
larger than in previous years.
Meanwhile, a young man brandished a gun at a rally for Dink in the
central city of Malatya -- where the journalist was born -- but was
rapidly arrested by police.
Dink, 52, was shot dead with two bullets to the head in broad daylight
outside the offices of Agos on Jan. 19, 2007.
Ogun Samast, then a 17-year-old jobless high-school dropout, confessed
to the murder and was sentenced to almost 23 years in jail in 2011.
But the murder grew into a wider scandal after it emerged that the
security forces knew of a plot to kill Dink, but failed to act.
A court on Monday remanded in custody Ercan Demir, who was police
intelligence chief of the Black Sea Trabzon region where the gunman
and his suspected accomplices came from, on charges of failing to act
on intelligence that could have prevented the murder.
Demir had been controversially named police chief of the southeastern
Sirnak province, but an arrest warrant was issued for him last week
and he turned himself into the police in Ankara.
Turkey had on Tuesday arrested two lower ranking policeman on charges
of negligence for failing to prevent the murder.
Dink, a major figure in Turkey's tiny but prominent Armenian
community, has long pushed for a reconciliation between Turks and
Armenians after decades of bitterness.
Armenians accuse Ottoman forces during World War I of carrying out a
genocide against their forebears that left an estimated 1.5 million
people dead. But modern Turkey has always vehemently resisted terming
the mass killings as genocide.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the tragedy and the date
appeared to give the Dink memorial march additional impetus.
Some at the Istanbul protest held banners referring to the events such
as "become conscious of the genocide along with Hrant Dink." Others
held cards reading: "We are all Hrant Dink, we are all Armenians."
Less than 10 percent of Turks believe their government should
recognize the mass killings of Armenians in World War I as genocide,
according to a survey published on Jan. 13.
Supporters of Dink's family have long feared that those behind the
murder were protected by the state and have asked for a deeper
investigation.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/01/20/world/ankara-quells-clashes-turkish-armenian-journalists-assassination-remembered/#.VL67RcYcRMs