Turkish police chief wanted in Dink murder probe

PanARMENIAN.Net - Newly appointed police chief of Turkey's southeastern district of Cizre, where at least six people were killed in turmoil, is now wanted by the court as part of an investigation into the killing of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink., according to Today’s Zaman.

Ercan Demir, who was appointed as Cizre's district police chief earlier this year, was monitoring a district where tensions were running high. Both Interior Minister Efkan Ala and jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan warned against "provocations" in the district.

Demir was questioned as a "suspect" as part of the investigation by prosecutors in Istanbul courthouse on Jan 12, but a court released him pending trial. Istanbul prosecutors appealed the court's decision and Istanbul's Penal Court of Peace issued an arrest warrant for Demir on Friday, Jan 16, on charges of "negligence over the murder."

Demir was serving as the Chief of the Intelligence Unit at Trabzon Police Department when Dink was gunned down.